Into Okami
by metaniterocks
Summary: What happens when a girl from the modern day finds herself in the world of Okami? Rated T to be safe, for no swearing and minor themes- this is Okami we're talking about. My first story!
1. Chapter 1: The Game

It started with a game.

Jenna was in the car, thanking her mother profusely for buying her Okami. Her bright blue eyes flashed excitedly, and her wavy, bright gold hair caught the sun. Her mother laughed. "You're welcome." Jenna took out the game from the bag and started pulling off the plastic. She smiled at the image of the rearing wolf, imagining what it could be like. All her friends had recommended it to her, and although they hadn't revealed the plot, they had told her enough for her to want to get it.

Her mother pulled into the driveway and into the garage. "Go ahead," she said with a smile. Jenna jumped out of the car and rushed indoors. She opened the case, admiring briefly the blue disc, and inserted it. Jenna chose the Disc Channel from the Wii Menu. A few quick drum beats sounded, and then a wolf drawn in a Japanese style appeared onscreen, to the accompaniment of "Okami" echoing many times. Excited, Jenna clicked start.


	2. Chapter 2: The Story

She wasn't entirely sure how it happened. One moment she was staring at the screen in anticipation, the next, she was in darkness, floating. A fuzzy light appeared, and grew, and soon she was staring at an image of a sepiatone village. A voice spoke, saying, "Long, long ago, a tiny hamlet known as Kamiki lay nestled in a grove of proud and beautiful cherry blossoms. Each and every tree around the quiet burg was honored as a god. However, the village was not without its dark secrets."

Jenna blinked in confusion. Where on earth was she? How did she get here? She looked around. Darkness everywhere... except for her and except for the weird misty thing. It had paused while her attention had been elsewhere, but it resumed as she focused on it again.

In the image, the silhouette of many dragon heads descended and a roar could be heard. "To satiate the appetite of Orochi, a fearsome cave-dwelling beast, a young maiden was offered as a sacrifice at the annual festival. With a body like a mountain and 8 heads mounted on necks the size of tree trunks, its blood-red eyes alone were said to curse anyone who gazed into them. No one dared disobey the horrific beast." Jenna stared. What was this thing? A screen or something? She sighed and resigned herself to watching this story unfold.

The image shifted to a scene above some houses and the voice said "Every year around the festival, a mysterious white wolf appeared outside the village. This wolf, its coat as brilliant as snow, was dubbed Shiranui. The wolf kept a watchful eye on anyone who ventured outside the village, and made a habit of patrolling the streets at night. People assumed the wolf to be a familiar of Orochi."

"One warrior took it upon himself to fight the ferocious Shiranui." The silhouette of a man, his arms folded, appeared on one side of the screen, and the silhouette of a wolf low to the ground took up the other side. Jenna heard growling, so realistic that she shivered. The wolf almost seemed to be right in front of her. "The warrior Nagi attempted many times to challenge the wolf, but his attempts were thwarted by Shiranui's swift movements."

A house appeared on the misty storytelling square. "Before long, the night of the accursed festival had arrived. A white plumed arrow heralded the coming sacrifice. Piercing the sky, the arrow sunk its shaft squarely into the home of Nami, the village's most beautiful maiden." An arrow silhouette appeared, and, with a loud thunk, pierced the top of the house.

"Nagi, harboring a secret love for Nami, was enraged by this sign." The shadow of a man and a woman holding hands appeared. "Determined to put an end to Orochi once and for all, Nagi traveled to the beast's cave in place of his beloved."

The image showed a cave. Dragon heads appeared across the screen and a man holding a sword were displayed as well, both in shadow.

"The Moon Cave, a place as dark as evil itself, served as Orochi's home. As Nagi stood before the entrance, a beast appeared, eyes glowing crimson upon 8 thrashing necks. Orochi stood tall before him, anxious for another sacrifice. Nagi leapt with incredible grace, swinging his blade valiantly. On and on he sliced, well into the moonless night... but Orochi's hide was like steel. The blade left nary a scratch." _Tough dragon,_ thought Jenna. _Wouldn't want to fight him._

A shadow of a man kneeling appeared. The heads of Orochi approached. "At long last, Nagi, his energy spent from the intense battle, dropped to his knees, fatigued and gasping for breath. He knew he was staring death in the face." A wolf silhouette dropped down from above, growling. "It was then that the wolf appeared. As if to protect Nagi, it stood its ground before Orochi. In the darkness of the cave, the wolf's coat shone brilliantly. Alas, it was Shiranui, the wolf that dwelled outside the village. Baring its fearsome claws, Shiranui leapt toward Orochi. Orochi reared its terrifying heads, readying its fangs for battle. The two beasts struggled wildly, thrashing in the darkness. Mysterious and terrifying, the spectacle continued."

Orochi breathed fire at Shiranui in the image. "Shiranui summoned gusts of divine wind to counter Orochi's flames." A brush painted a loop-the-loop on the picture, and a wind blew from behind Shiranui. "As Orochi closed in on Shiranui, sharpened claws glistening... A gigantic tree suddenly sprouted forth, shielding the wolf. Shiranui fought gallantly to gain the upper hand. However, Orochi, protected by a mystical power, was not easily bested. Shiranui, covered in gashes, majestic coat dyed crimson, stood exhausted before the mighty Orochi. Orochi saw a chance to strike what would be the final blow. But Shiranui refused to give in. With its last ounce of strength, the majestic wolf gazed heavenward and unleashed a mighty howl." Shiranui howled in the image as well, and the howl sounded all around Jenna.

"Suddenly, the black clouds overhead dissipated." The moon appeared. "The light from above glinted off Nagi's sword as a beacon of hope." Nagi joined Shiranui with his sword raised. "Guided by his sword, Nagi, who had been taking shelter in the shadows, stood proudly to face his adversary. Channeling all his strength into his scarred and battered arms, he leapt ferociously toward Orochi, his sword poised high."

"The golden sword danced in his hands like a puppet on a string. One by one, Orochi's fearsome heads separated from their owner." Jenna watched as Orochi's heads fell beside Nagi and Shiranui. "Orochi's body collapsed in a pool of its own blood. In that instant, the curse that plagued the villagers was lifted. As the battle subsided, the sun shone once again in the sky."

"Shiranui had succumbed to Orochi's poison and struggled to breathe. Nagi scooped the beast in his arms and returned to Kamiki."

The next image was that of Shiranui surrounded by villagers. "When they returned to the village, Shiranui was no longer moving. The village elder gently stroked the wolf's head. In response, Shiranui let out a hoarse and pitiful bark, then closed its eyes and drifted off as if into slumber." The image rolled past a village as flower petals fell across the screen. They were the only color in the sepiatone world. Then the image settled on a wolf statue. "Peace had at last returned to Kamiki Village. In honor of Shiranui's heroic exploits, the villagers erected a shrine and placed a statue of the wolf within it. Nagi's sword was christened "Tsukuyomi" and placed inside the Moon Cave. The villagers all looked forward to an age of endless peace... However, this is not the end of the story. There is more to this tale than most people know. 100 years have passed since Nagi and Shiranui's heroic exploits..."

The light slowly faded. Jenna paused. She was left in a blackness her eyes could not pierce, although she could see her own clothes. As she stood wondering, she suddenly noticed her clothes _changing._ They were shifting, growing heavier, changing color. She was soon wearing a lavender-and-white Japanese yukata. Her hair was soon done up in a bun. It seemed, from what she felt with her hands, that there was a flower of some sort sticking out from the base of the bun. A headband comfortably pinched her ears, and she removed it. It was white, with lavender lilies decorating it tastefully. She replaced it. Jenna also soon found herself holding a brush. It was beautiful for a brush; the handle was thick and fit her hand comfortably; the wood was smooth and cool. It, too, was white, and was decorated with lavender swirls. The bristles were white and possessed an unusual, creamy texture. In a sudden burst of sparkles, it vanished from her hand. She paused, there in the darkness, and then, fell.


	3. Chapter 3: Encounters

_Hi! I'm doing author's notes for the first time~ Yay~_

_I'm glad that I already seem to have found a few fans... It's good for inspiration, doncha know. Thanks **Pinkdesi101**, for being my first reviewer! ... Ever! _

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Okami Amaterasu, Issun, or any other aspect of the game Okami._

_... uh... I can't think of anything else I want to say, so, let's get on with it!_

(Author's notes end)

She screamed all the way down, and then, with an impact only as hard as falling from a standing position, landed on her bottom against something hard. She stood, brushing herself off, and looked around. She was standing next to a huge tree. Beyond the tree's roots were a cliff, which Jenna decided to keep well clear of. She looked around at the lovely blue sky-

A shockwave ripped through her, and she heard an accompanying roar. She staggered, tripped over a root and fell. Her head smashed against something hard and she fainted.

(LINE BREAK)

What has happened to bring on such calamity?

This is just like the ancient prophecy of doom.

My power has diminished over the years I've spent protecting this area.

Amaterasu, now is the time.

We have never needed your power more.

Shine your divine light upon this broken and polluted world.

Let your heavenly rays become our hope as you guide us all!

(LINE BREAK)

"Hey, furball, look at this girl!" Jenna heard an annoying, squeaking voice talking nearby. She stirred slightly. "C'mon, babe. Wake up," said the voice. A dog barked and panted. Jenna felt a nudge. A dog licked her hand, and whined. "Hey, WAKE UP!" yelled the squeaking voice. She sat up abruptly and with shock. "Oh, hey, it worked! The babe's awake!" She turned to look at an odd sight. A white wolf was standing in front of her, covered in swirling red markings. On her back was a rotating green disc surrounded by fire. The wolf's eyes were blazing with red and gold but were filled with kindness. There was something obviously feminine about her.

And bouncing on her forehead was a person-shaped bug thing of diminutive stature, surrounded in a green glow and with a beetle-like hat... or maybe he _was_ a beetle and that was his chitin.

"Hey, girlie!" exclaimed the squeaky voice. She assumed it belonged to the bug."What happened to you?"

"I... I was..." She assumed it was best to cut out the part about her game, after all the wolf in front of her looked exactly like the one on the cover of the game case. "I felt a huge shockwave and cracked my head on a rock..." she muttered, rubbing her head.

"Ooh, babe, that sounds bad. Hm. Lemme check you out... er, give you a check-up..." said the bug, and jumped off the wolf's head and onto her stomach. He jumped up and landed on her chest. He jumped onto her shoulder and then atop her head. She felt him drop onto miniature arms and legs; he seemed to be peering at the side of her head. He stood and headed forwards, dropping past her face onto her chest again. "Hmm, nothing wrong here... eheh..." he said, sounding far too comfortable. "Get off," said Jenna in annoyance. "Huh? Oh, fine..." said the tiny person grumpily. Jenna had by now decided that he had to be a tiny person. No bug would be able to speak... and no bug would be so offensive.

Several minutes later, they were standing in front of the tree. "What's happened here?" asked Jenna. "Dunno," said the bouncing green glow. "Darkness all around... A friend of ours, Sakuya, told us to cut down that fruit there... and the village would be restored. By the way, my name's Issun, and this here's Amaterasu."

"My name is Jenna," she replied.

"Nice to meet ya, honey," said Issun absently. (Jenna was amazed at how he seemed to be hitting on her without even trying.) "How are we supposed to cut it down? It's impossible to get up there..."

"What about that glowing place, there by the tree?" asked Jenna.

"Good idea, let's check that out," said Issun.

Amaterasu rushed straight into the glowing light; meanwhile Jenna paused to take in the condition of the surrounding area. Rocks, branches, and other debris whirled around in a maelstrom of dark wind, a wind she could _see._ She looked up at the barren, yet still majestic tree, and sighed. She was surprised it wasn't knocked down in this wind, although this area did seem to be mysteriously protected from the onslaught of the gale. Looking forward, she stepped into the glowing light.

Once through, she considered her surroundings. Amaterasu was sniffing around a green field. "Wow..." Jenna said quietly. She walked away from the gate, to the side, and soon discovered that they were actually on a platform. She scrambled away from the edge rapidly, to the accompaniment of Issun's laughter. She gave him a glare and he subsided into giggles. Both she and Amaterasu focused their attention on the glowing disc of light shining on a pedestal.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Issun, suddenly recognizing what they were looking at. "That's an Origin Mirror! They say once your reflection appears on its surface, your memories will be stored in the mirror for all eternity!"

_Sounds like an excuse for a save game function,_ thought Jenna. Amaterasu stood before the mirror, on the small pedestal. She panted, looking at it, then turned and started walking away. Jenna approached, staring into the mirror. She heard mysterious music, echoing and distant. _How can you see a reflection when it's emitting light?_ she wondered. But she suddenly noticed that the light was changing. Behind it, her own puzzled image appeared, looking back at her. Jenna gasped. "I can see it! I see my reflection!" Issun jumped over to next to her, jumping up her arm and onto her chest. "Well, whaddya know," he said cheerfully. Jenna suddenly noticed where he was. "Get off," she said in annoyance. "I'll flick you."

"Geez, fine."

They walked over a bridge and to a small cliff. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there, furball! Look at that!" said Issun. Jenna looked up. A treasure chest sat on the edge. "That chest looks mighty tempting. Let's go check it out. Getting up that high oughtta be a piece of cake. Jump up there!" said Issun. Amaterasu did so, jumping up and off the wall. _A wall jump, _thought Jenna. _Like Mario!_ Then she realized that Issun was talking to Amaterasu and she was still down below with no way of getting up.

"Hey!" exclaimed Jenna. "What about me? Huh?"

"Right," said Issun. "We can't forget the ba-uh- Jenna." Amaterasu jumped back down from the cliff and then crouched in an obvious "get on." Jenna stood in doubt. "What about the fire thing?" Said 'fire thing' moved forwards and hovered above Amaterasu's head. She smiled gratefully and balanced herself upon Amaterasu's back. Amaterasu leapt upwards, and Jenna screamed with the shock. "Hey, girlie, in case you haven't noticed, we're up," said Issun. Jenna opened her eyes. "Oh." She slid off Amaterasu's back and they kept walking. "This place is beautiful," said Jenna with a soft delight. "Yeah, whatever," said Issun. She could almost see the little midget rolling his eyes.

They came to a broken bridge. Issun paused reflectively, and then started bouncing, an indication that he was about to start talking.

"Looks like the bridge is out. This shouldn't be so hard, um... Amaterasu, was it? That's kinda long. Mind if I call ya 'Ammy?'" Amaterasu tilted her head. "Why do I even have to ask? Listen, Ammy... Ever heard of the spirits of the brush?"

Jenna commented dryly, "I haven't."

"Well, this'll help you, too. Good brushwork has its own soul, 'least that's what they say. Just watch. It'd take all day to explain... A picture's worth a thousand words, right?"

The world became sepiatone. Issun held out a tiny arm with a tiny object in it, and painted a scribble in the air. The bridge acquired a 3D scribble that arced with its proper shape. The world regained its rainbows, and the bridge appeared, fully repaired. "Whoa!" exclaimed Jenna. "How'd you do that?"

"Nice, huh? Just a little technique I've mastered called Rejuvenation. It's one of many brush techniques that use divine power. It's a brush god power that can restore broken or missing things. I've practiced really hard just to master this one technique. But there are 13! Each one is a power of one of the 13 brush gods. Originally, all 13 were a single powerful deity. When the deity died, its power was split into 13 separate gods. The gods now dwell within objects all around us, but... God or no god, how could anyone have the power to master all 13!"

Jenna nodded in agreement. "I think it's amazing that you can do that in the first place." Issun's glow turned pink. "Well, it took me a really long time and all that..."

They continued over the bridge and to a large chasm. A large puddle of sparkling, glittering water glowed beside it. "Wow!" exclaimed Jenna. Her attention was immediately captured by the water which glinted with a thousand diamonds. She rushed over to the pool and dipped her hands in it. Where she touched it, the water emitted even more glowing sparks. As she removed her hands from the water they glittered with little stars as well. She heard Issun talking.

"The River of the Heavens? They mean the fabled stardust river? But I sure don't see anything like that around here. It couldn't be that little puddle over there, could it?"

Jenna looked up. "This puddle? It supposed to be a river or something?"

"I dunno," said Issun, bounding over to her. "It's beyond me."

Amaterasu was proceeding up a nearby hillside. Issun bounced next to Jenna for a moment and then followed her. Jenna regretfully shook the stardust off her hands and followed also.

"Wow! Look at the stars twinkle! I haven't seen such a beautiful nighttime sky in ages," said Issun as she arrived. "Hey, look! Are those stars forming a pattern, or is it just me?"

"Yeah, there's some weird zigzag going on there," agreed Jenna. "Hmm... there's one missing..." Issun observed.

"How'd you get that?" asked Jenna. "There's just four stars, how do you know where the fifth is supposed to be?"

"Just look at them!" exclaimed Issun. "Don't you sense it too?"

Jenna looked up to the sky. Sure enough, she got the sense of a zigzagging line, and thought that there should be another star at the end. "Guess I'll just have to draw the missing star!" exclaimed Issun. The world became monotone again and Issun poked a dot above him. Jenna looked up to see a similar dot floating up in the sky. But when the world unfroze, the ink just dripped down from the sky, and landed on Issun's head, covering him from head to toe in black.

"Bah... Looks like I'm just not ready to draw missing stars," said Issun, shaking off the ink and glaring back up at the sky like it was its fault. The world froze again, but this time, a starry brush the size of Ammy's head appeared and poked a dot. This time, the star stayed, and Jenna could suddenly see the outline of the constellation's shape.

The world turned yellow and black and a great white dragon holding four spheres of colored smoke and whose tail pierced a scroll swooped down from the heavens. He spoke with a deep and majestic voice.

"Ah... Why, if it isn't mother Amaterasu. I apologize for not contacting you sooner during these long years. Having never forgotten you, I, Yomigami, god of restoration, have eagerly awaited this day when we could again meet. While you were away, the 13 spirits of the brush that you once possessed, including myself, have been scattered across this land of men, and now lie in disarray. I became a constellation and managed to survive until now. The time has come for you to seek out and reunite all the techniques. Your power is what is needed to restore the dried riverbed of the heavens and renew the flow of stardust." The majestic head turned, and Jenna felt the weight of his gaze upon her. "Starseeker," he said respectfully, and nodded slowly. He slowly vanished and became a sphere of light with a kanji on it and flew around Amaterasu and finally into her chest.

"Wow!" exclaimed Issun. "That was Yomigami, the god of Rejuvenation! Wait... So you have the power of Rejuvenation now! Can you really use it to restore the River of the Heavens? That would mean you were as good with a brush as yours truly! Nah... it couldn't be true. Who else could master this incredible god technique!" exclaimed Issun. Jenna noticed that Issun either had forgotten, or hadn't noticed how Yomigami had regarded her.

Amaterasu ran down the hill, panting. As they approached the gate at the base of the hill, she leapt up, wall jumped off the top of the gate, and then over it. "Hey!" cried Jenna. "Why don't I get to be unnecessarily epic?"

"'cause you're not a wolf!" exclaimed Issun. They arrived next to the huge chasm.

"Wonder if drawing some stardust would get the river flowing again? Nah... it's one thing to fix a bridge, but fixing a starry river? There's no way you could pull off a stunt like that!"

The world froze and the starry brush appeared again. The river filled in with ink as the brush moved, and then as the world unfroze it was suddenly there, wide and flowing past them.

"Whoa! A river of stardust! So this really must be the River of the Heavens. But what I really wanna know is who drew the thing!" exclaimed Issun. Jenna decided that he must not see the odd sepiatone world the same way she did.

They swam across, Jenna reveling in the cool wetness of the water. She found that when she accidentally took in water through her mouth, it only seemed to be air. _It must be impossible to drown in this river,_ she reflected. The current wasn't very strong and they swam across easily. Jenna noticed as she climbed out of the water that her clothes weren't soaked like she'd expected. She was dripping water; she was wet, but her clothes weren't clinging and cold like they should be. She did a wolflike shake, at the same time that Amaterasu did, and she found that that was all it took to become dry. Issun complained loudly, however.

They entered the glowing gate, and it occurred to Jenna that she had possessed a brush before arriving at the base of the great tree. As she thought about it, it was summoned to her hand. Amaterasu was walking ahead, with Issun hiding somewhere in her fur, and she called, "Hey, wait a sec." Amaterasu turned, and Issun bounced on her forehead. "What is it, babe?" "I have a brush," offered Jenna. "Could I learn how to do brushwork?" Issun bounced away from Amaterasu to contemplate the brush Jenna held out. "I guess so, yeah," said Issun.

"Would you teach me?" asked Jenna.

"Sure!"

(Chapter ends)

_Well, now that's over with... Some godmod mechanics implemented as far as water+clothes, and Jenna finds a use for her brush... huzzah. Next chapter: Jenna actually learns the use of her brush and Issun speculates over the identity of Amaterasu!_

_Jenna: YAY I don't get soaked when I swim!_

_Meta: That's right! Issun? Anything you want to say?_

_Issun: Uh... no..._

_Well, whatever. He'll find something to say... OR ELSE..._


	4. Chapter 4: The Brush

_Hi, and we're back!_

_Jenna: Metaniterocks does not own Okami... just me... *sigh*_

_Meta: Okay, well CHAPTER START!_

(Author's notes end)

"So how do I do this?" asked Jenna. "Well," said Issun, "You kind of do a pulling motion from the ground up with the brush..." He seemed to be demonstrating, Jenna guessed what motion he was doing and imitated it. The world turned sepiatone.

"Okay, now you just hold out your brush and paint your brushwork in. There's a kind of invisible surface called the Canvas that surrounds you when you use your brush. Usually, for me, there's only one technique allowed each time. Oh, and time stops when you use the Canvas. But you can't move," instructed Issun. "Only your spirit can, and it's tough. When you are really focused on a target, though, it's easy to move your spirit around it."

"Oh, cool!" said Jenna.

"Hey, why don't you try out Rejeuvination on that gate?" he said, pointing out said gate.

Jenna looked up. A chunk of the arch was missing. She held up her brush. Her arm didn't get tired as she carefully drew in the missing wood.

"Now, you just lower your brush," said Issun.

"Right," said Jenna, and did so. Her ink dissolved and dripped down from the gate. "What?" exclaimed Jenna. "It is kind of tough," said Issun. "Try again."

Jenna attempted it again, and again, and finally, with a burst of will and energy, managed to restore a piece of the arch. "I did it! Well, some of it..."

"Yeah, good job! You want that I should finish it off for ya or do you want to?"

"I want to finish!" exclaimed Jenna excitedly.

"Be my guest," said Issun. Jenna carefully painted in the rest of the arch and smiled with delight as it filled in completely. "Yes!" she said happily. She watched as down from the gate descended shimmering orbs of red, yellow and pale blue. They floated towards her. She tried to get out of the way, but they followed her and entered her body. "You got some praise!" exclaimed Issun. "It makes the gods stronger, so why did it go to you...? It must be just because you were the one to fix this thing. It's kind of all the happiness that this fixed gate will ever cause in the future..."

They headed up the hill. Jenna paused as they crossed a bridge, staring off to the side, behind the waterfall. "What is it, Jen?" asked Issun. "Uh... is that a chest over there?"

Issun was confused. "What? Where?"

Jenna passed under the falling water, shaking it off on the other side and crouching to stare at the chest. Amaterasu followed, much to the gurgling protests of Issun. Jenna opened it with a gentle tug and reached inside, to the small bead that lay there. "What is it?" asked Issun.

"A stray bead," said Jenna instinctively. "Collect all 100... what does that mean?"

"Eh?" asked Issun, even more confused. "Nevermind," said Jenna. "Let's keep going."

They went back to the path and up a long series of steps. Jenna found that she could use her brush outside of the Canvas and Issun confirmed that the brush could be used that way, but within the Canvas time was stopped and so one had time to be careful and think.

They reached the top of the steps and entered a cave. Upon seeing a statue, Issun stammered "Is this... Is this the legendary shrine? We must be in the Cave of Nagi! The legendary hero Nagi is enshrined here! He vanquished evil 100 years ago with the help of the white wolf, Shiranui!" Jenna started, was he referring to the legend she'd seen before arriving here? "First the River of the Heavens and now this place... Where are we?"

Jenna shook her head. "Uh, firstly, aren't you at all worried about that huge gate which trapped us in here? And secondly, your guess is as good as mine, but I personally think this place is valued by those gods you were talking about. There's something divine about it." Amaterasu panted happily and nuzzled Jenna's hand.

"I guess so, but boy, this place is a wreck," commented Issun. "See? That sword's in really bad shape. The gods sure didn't do much to protect this place," he continued, eliciting a growl from Amaterasu. Jenna personally agreed. She sensed the divine air, but the statue was covered in moss, and the sword was broken off.

Then the Canvas appeared. Jenna wondered if Issun was trying to restore the sword. Again, a starry brush of light and dark appeared in front of Amaterasu and moved up and down carefully. A line was painted both in front of the brush and also three-dimensionally upon the sword. The world's color was restored, and Issun exclaimed, "That really WAS your brushwork all this time, Ammy! How'd you get so good? Exactly who are you, anyway?"

Jenna stared at Amaterasu, thinking about how Yomigami had spoken to Amaterasu so respectfully, and called her 'mother.' "Hey, there's another constellation!" exclaimed Issun. "This one looks like a..." His voice trailed off. Amaterasu drew in the star and the god emerged. _A mouse with a sword..._ thought Jenna. The name of the god rang in her head. _Tachigami..._

"Well, well, well... if it isn't mother Amaterasu. It's been a long time. But with all these monsters around, the only place I could hide was in this shrine dedicated to ancient heroes. If there is anything I can do to assist you in your endeavors, I'm at your service. Make good use of this sword, as it was designed to conquer evil." Jenna stared, wondering how the mouse was able to sit on that sword like that. Then Tachigami turned to her. "I have something for you also, Starseeker."

He jumped off the sword, grabbing it, and swinging it around in a quick spiral. He soon was back up on the sword, and a pouch lay on the ground. "Your throwing feathers. Had you thought them lost?" Jenna stared. "What? I never had any 'throwing feathers'..."

"Be assured that they are yours. I have kept them for you faithfully, and they are as sharp as ever they were!"

"Uh... okay..." said Jenna, picking up the pouch. She opened it and investigated. Within was greyish down. Jenna stared. "Uhhh..."

"Please, take one out, Starseeker. Perhaps you shall see what I mean."

Jenna reached in. As her fingers touched a piece of down, she felt it stiffen and lengthen. She took it out, and there was a stiff, pointed pure white feather. Jenna observed that it was too stiff for an ordinary feather; the fibers maintained their smooth shape even when she ruffled them.

"You see? They are just the same as when you left them. Take them with you, Starseeker, and may your aim be unwavering!"

Tachigami vanished into a floating kanji, like Yomigami had, and flew around and into Amaterasu. As the landscape faded back to that of the cave, Issun said, "Hey, that was the god, Tachigami, master of the Power Slash technique." He bounced over to where Jenna held the pouch of down and the one white feather. "What are those things for, anyways?" "I really don't know," said Jenna. "Wait a minute." He turned to Amaterasu. "Ammy... if you're getting all these powers... Then you're just like that Shiranui! You know, the wolf who fought and died alongside the great Nagi."

Jenna paused. It would make sense... Shiranui was a white wolf like Amaterasu. However, Amaterasu was covered in divine markings.

"When Shiranui died, the wolf's power was split into the 13 brush gods. This is crazy. Shiranui and Nagi? It's just like the legend." Issun shook his head. "Well, anyway, I've never seen this Power Slash technique myself. How 'bout showing your stuff off on that boulder over there? Lemme see you slice it in half by drawing a single line! I won't believe it till I see it!"

Jenna turned to watch. The starry brush appeared in front of Ammy and cut the boulder with a line of ink. "Wow! I'm not even in the same league as you!" exclaimed Issun. "Guess I really overestimated myself." He paused. "Hey, furball... Er... I mean, Amaterasu... I've made up my mind. If you're Shiranui reborn, that means you can master all 13 techniques, right? In that case, I think I'll tag along until I'm as good as you! Lucky you!" Amaterasu complained with a shake of the head. "Heh heh. There's no use trying to change my mind." Jenna put the feather back in the pouch, and felt it shrink back into soft, fluffy down. "Okay, well, now that that's settled," she said. "Could we get out of this place?"

(Chapter ends)

_Jenna got a weird pouch thing~ Oooh what is it~_

_Next chapter... enemies, I guess... and probably Kamiki Village._

_Jenna: WHAT ARE THESE FEATHER THINGS?_

_Issun: Shut up! Spazzy OC._

_Jenna: Just 'cause you're in the actual game-_

_Meta: NO FIGHTING!_


	5. Chapter 5: Revival

_Yay, I finished another chapter! Sorry this one took longer, I had already written the others and had decided to upload them. What can I say, it's a lot easier to write in a burst of inspiration and post a bunch of chapters than it is to write one and post it on minor writer's block._

_Thanks again to **Pinkdesi101** for being my ONLY reviewer! ^-^_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Okami. Just Jenna._

_Jenna: *.*_

(Author's notes end)

Amaterasu turned to the exit, moved forwards and used Power Slash to easily chop through the thick wood bars of the gate. She padded out and down the steps followed closely by Jenna, who was busy inspecting the feathers. She drew one out again, and watched it lengthen. She noted its weight.

Issun was bouncing on her arm. "I just can't understand why Tachigami gave you those things-" he said.

"You've said that twice now."

"Well I-"

Red and blue exploded all around, and an arena formed. Black kanji signs swirled around the walls, and green monsters appeared, bearing flutes.

"What the-! Where'd they come from?" exclaimed Issun. "Whatever. Draw first, ask questions later, am I right?"

Jenna stared at the creatures. She knew what they were. "Green Imps!" she cried. As one stretched out its flute to try to hit her, she jumped aside. Instinctually, she looked around for a way to fight. Across the arena, Amaterasu was fighting furiously with her Reflector and Power Slash. Evidently, Jenna was being left out of her access of the Canvas, because she never saw Amaterasu's brush. But she got an idea from her.

Jenna called her brush to hand, calling up the Canvas. Immediately everything paused, including the ferocious fighting of Amaterasu and the eager bouncing of Issun (who was hiding in the space behind Amaterasu's head, between her shoulderblades). Jenna took a deep breath, glad for the magic of the Canvas.

She raised her brush and drew a straight line across the attacking imp. After another moment appreciating the relief from the fear and adrenaline of battle, she allowed the world to resume-

And her brush stroke did nothing.

Jenna gasped and avoided another blow. _Why didn't it work? _she thought frantically. She froze the world again with another use of the Canvas, and stared at the now-blackened imp.

Suddenly, something occurred to her. She called forth the pouch of feathers Tachigami had given her, and it appeared in her hand. She withdrew one, and then, wincing with anticipation, dropped the Canvas. The imp struck out wildly, trying in vain to make contact with its foe.

Jenna stepped out of the way of one such blow, and then, threw the feather at the imp, ninja-style. The feather buried itself in the imp's side and began to steam. The imp howled with pain and shook off the ink. It turned to her. Jenna pulled out another feather, and paused while she the imp stared at each other. It was a short game of feints, then finally the imp made a move. Jenna dodged, and thus defended she threw another feather.

It hit its mark with a satisfying thunk, piercing its target's armor. Jenna grinned. She could fight. The feathers actually did substantial damage, more than she thought, and after three more hits she had finished off her enemy. Amaterasu had done the same. As they were defeated, the imps turned into flowers. "What on earth?" said Jenna, finally noticing this after the battle was over.

"Hey, good job, furball!" said Issun. "Monsters like this usually have some things on them..." He jumped forwards and into the nearest patch of flowers, tossing out assorted bits and bobs such as ink pots and small orbs which seemed to contain fire. Jenna picked up one of the small red Holy Globes and offered it to Amaterasu. "Do you need this?" Ammy shook her head. "No?"

"Alright!" declared Issun. "Jackpot! I got some yen, and look here! A demon fang."

"Good for you," said Jenna dryly, who didn't know what to think of taking items from flowers that happened to be the remains of living creatures.

"Aw, don't use that tone, sweetie. This yen was probably taken from an innocent passersby. And this is the only way to get these fangs. The aristocrats love 'em as a symbol of wealth... 'cause they'll pay high prices to get 'em. Heh heh heh!"

Jenna shrugged. "Oh yeah, and..." Issun commented, "Good job with those feather things."

"Thanks."

They walked for just a bit before a question occured to Issun.

"Hey, did I hear you yelling about these monsters? What do you know about 'em?" asked Issun curiously.

"Well, they're Green Imps, they harass people by attacking them or causing disease, etcetera etcetera."

"Oh. You fought 'em before?"

"No."

"Heard about 'em?"

"No."

"Then, how on earth do you know about 'em?" cried Issun, bouncing up and down agitatedly.

"No idea."

Issun wasn't satisfied with this answer, and so kept pestering Jenna as they walked down another flight of stairs. Jenna just ignored him. Eventually, he shut up as they fought more Green Imps. The battle was mostly uneventful. Issun nabbed more Demon Fangs and yen.

They continued through the River of Heavens to the cliff without any talking, then as they passed by several pots Jenna pulled out her throwing feathers and threw one at each. The pots shattered effortlessly. "Awesome," said Issun.

"Thanks."

"How'd your aim get so good?"

"I have absolutely no idea! But I love it!"

Unnecessary epicness done, they moved out through the portal and back out into the maelstrom, which seemed to have gotten stronger. They stared up at the fruit, and Amaterasu seemed to be taking her time about using her brush.

"Well, cut it down!" exclaimed Jenna. "This place feels like it's going to fall apart!"

Amaterasu huffed at her and cut down the fruit with a Power Slash. Immediately a wave of light and greenery rushed outwards from where they were. Jenna gasped as she watched trees sprouting, water splashing blue and bright, and flower petals of many colors starting to fall through the air. She tried to catch some. They drifted past her hands, and she couldn't catch a single one, but she had great fun trying. Amaterasu watched this with a wolfish smile.

"Wow! The village's been restored! Sakuya came through big time! She really was protecting the village," said Issun. "But I sure wish I coulda spent more time in her kimono, if ya know what I mean!" He laughed. Jenna got annoyed and flicked him with a finger. He fell onto the ground. "Hey!"

"That's what you get," said Jenna, "for being a pervert."

Issun had no reply to this, so he jumped back onto Ammy's head without comment. "But seriously, with the monsters running around and all, the village could still be in danger. Let's go see how they're all doing down there."

They walked away from the great tree and through an archway, beginning the descent down the hill. Jenna looked around. Everything had a vibrant green tint to it. It all looked very alive, but Jenna wondered why the light was green. She looked up at the sky and shivered as a sudden chill rose up her spine. _No sun..._ she thought. Something was wrong.

She had fallen behind, and moved to catch up with them. The path split, one way going downhill and the other going uphill. Amaterasu had stopped in front of a statue and was sniffing it curiously.

"What in the world?" said Issun. "I don't remember there being a statue here... Well, whatever. Let's go talk to the villagers!"

Amaterasu rushed off. Jenna bit her lip nervously. She had a sneaking suspicion that this statue _was_ a villager.

She jogged after them. Issun was examining a lady standing in a field when she arrived. She picked up on him saying "-like the villagers have turned to stone or something..." and she heard a sudden and loud roar. Her eyes widened with fear and she was pushed onto the ground by the evil power that blasted through her. It stopped after a moment.

"Jenna?" cried Issun in momentary concern. She stood back up, shakily. "That's not one of those smaller monsters that's lurking about. A roar like that's got to belong to something much bigger."

"Yeah." said Issun. "Well, anyways, let's hurry up and find somebody with a pulse around here!"

Issun and Amaterasu found a statue of a little boy as Jenna glanced around for another villager. "No good. This one's not moving. What about your end, Jenna?"

Jenna saw another statue and ran to it- a girl working in a rice field sat cold and still. "Nix; nothing here," she called.

"Everyone here was perfectly fine just a few hours ago! The village is back, but what's up with this dark sky?" Issun was starting to panic. "Maybe it's dark outside the village too! Let's find some high ground so we can take a look!"

Jenna pointed back up the hill. "The other path!" she exclaimed. "Yeah!" shouted Issun. Jenna started running, followed by Ammy, who seemed to be deliberately matching her pace so as not to pass her. They passed the frozen villager and ran up the higher path. They spotted a viewing platform.

As they ran to it and stopped at its rails, Issun said, "This is bad. The sun's not even shining. It's as black as night as far as the eye can see. And not a single villager can move a muscle... Is it some kind of curse? Did a monster do this? It's not gonna stay like this forever, is it? If only the sun were out to light our way... If we could draw a circle in the sky, we'd have ourselves a sun! But I guess that'd be impossible, even for a god like Ammy. Maybe we'd better seek out another brush god for help."

Jenna looked at Ammy curiously. Amaterasu looked back at her and then up at the sky. Her brush appeared and drew a circle. And just as simply as that, a ring of fire blazed and the sun appeared.

"Wh-wh-wh-what?" cried Issun.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Jenna.

"Hm, come to think of it, your name IS Amaterasu..." said Issun. "That's the name of the sun god! So, it'd follow that you had the Sunrise technique from the start. With it, you could even turn night into day..." His glow turned pure white. "Wow! You're no run-of-the mill god, that's for sure!"

He paused, then said, "_The flowing brush is like music from the heavens._ That's a line from one of my grandfather's poems. He felt a skilled artist was like a musician of shape and color. Since you're such a great artist yourself, why don't we name your brushwork after that poem of his? It's called Celestial Brush!"

"Sounds good to me," Jenna cut in. "After all, your brush did bring out the sun, and it's made of stars."

Issun nodded. "Well, let's head back to the village! We gotta see if everyone's back to normal now."

Then: "Hm? Who are you?" said a very old-sounding voice.

Jenna turned. The first thing she saw, at head height, was a bouncing orange.

She started, and then saw the true source of the voice; an old man was standing behind them bouncing an orange on his head. She shook her head as words forced their way in.

_Village Elder- Mr. Orange_

"A white wolf! Not the one who fought that terrible creature with Nagi! You couldn't possibly be the legendary Shiranui!" He looked at Jenna. "Now could she?"

Jenna blinked in surprise. "Uhhh... I don't know... uh.. sir."

Mr. Orange shook his head. "No, it couldn't be..." Amaterasu sat and looked at him. "That story is 100 years old. Still, you look a lot like that statue of Shiranui. On the other hand, you don't look quite as smart..." Amaterasu took offense, growling and dipping low into a hostile posture. "Wh-wh-whoa! No need to growl like that," said Mr. Orange, punching the air in front of him in an attempt to defend himself from the potential attack of Ammy. "Can she really understand me?" he asked, looking at Jenna. "Well, I'm not one to mince words. I just state the facts!"

_Yeah right,_ thought Jenna. _You're just trying to defend yourself from the wolf that can possibly __understand you._

"Can't you keep her under control?" he demanded. Jenna said, "What?" and looked at Ammy, who paused and looked back at her. "Well, she's your pet, isn't she?"

"Uhh..."

Just then a dark colored wind started to blow. Jenna spotted three Green Imps in a line on the peak of the hill behind Mr. Orange. He paused. "Hm? What's this sudden chill down my spine?"

"Here they come..." said Issun. The imps leapt forwards, attempting an attack. Amaterasu grabbed Mr. Orange by the collar of his robe and used him like a bat, knocking the imps away. She swung him back down, and there was a moment of DRAMATIC REATTATCHMENT as the orange collided with his head, then she tossed him away and out of danger. She growled at the imps and leapt into the fray.

There were three imps this time, but they were no more challenging than three. "Hah," Jenna said, dispatching one with several quick shots of feathers. "Say, I'm getting better at this..."

"I'll say," said Issun. "You're not nearly as uncertain as before."

"It's 'cause I know how to fight."

The next Imp that Jenna faced (along with Amaterasu, who had finished off her imp) was suddenly covered with ink, and Issun swore from his place atop Jenna's head. The imp flailed around wildly.

"Send somebody stronger next time!" taunted Jenna. The imp lunged in the direction of her voice, and Jenna leapt away as Amaterasu jumped forwards with her Divine Instrument and struck the Imp. It collapsed and vanished into flowers as the others had.

Amaterasu growled for a moment. Jenna looked at her to see her staring at her shoulder, which was stained with blood. Jenna moved to one of the flowers and scooped up a Holy Globe to give to Amaterasu. She took it in her teeth and crunched it like it was a dog treat, and the blood vanished.

The arena had vanished by now, and a dried pond they had seen on the way to the viewing platform suddenly filled with water and grass and trees sprouted in the surrounding area. Jenna's eyes widened.

Praise floated from the spring and into Jenna and Amaterasu. "Hey!" exclaimed Issun. "More Praise! Nice. And look! See how that dried-up spring began flowing again? That's because ridding an area of monsters restores the gods' power to the land. People call it Divine Intervention. The more you restore the land to its natural beauty, the more Praise you'll get. It's the source of the gods' power. Few people believe in the gods these days, and that may weaken you, but if you try hard, your true power might shine through! But boy, there's sure been a lotta monsters around lately. And that Mr. Orange you tossed around up on the sacred deck... looks like he thinks you're a regular wolf. Seems the gods have grown so weak people can't see them anymore." He paused, and muttered to himself. Jenna stared at him. "Oh, uh..."

"Anyway, I'll show you around the village. I have a feeling we're in for an epic adventure! This should be fun!"

(Chapter ends)

_Yay. Finally, I get to stop doing so much blatant story-following and get to explore a little! Ahhh, feels good. *stretch*_

_Next chapter... uhhh... Kamiki Village! Kushi! Susano! FOOD!_

_Sorry for the absence of Jenna and Issun, they're arguing backstage. Oh! No, they aren't now, Amaterasu's yelling at the both of them now. Never tick off the sun god._

_Jenna and Issun: Q^Q_


	6. Chapter 6: Kamiki Village

_Hi. Back. FROM THE DEAD- no. I lost interest for a little, but regained it and poof here I am. So yeah. Yaaaay~_

_Thanks to my reviewers! I'm proud of you all! All... five of you. Lol~_

_Anyways, DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this stuff. Except Jenna._

(Author's notes end)

The first thing that caught Jenna's eye was the treasure chest sitting by the pond. "Hey," she said, and opened it. Inside was... a bag. Full of seeds. "What on earth?" said Jenna. "Birdfeed?"

"Oh, yeah, feedbag," said Issun. "Hey, nice. We should feed as many animals as possible. It gets praise!"

"From the birds?"

"Yes!"

"...I don't know what to say to that..."

"Hey, they're sweet creatures when they're not trying to eat you. Why, once when I fed a flock of hungry birds one offered to give me a ride! Best day of my life."

"I'll take your word for it."

Jenna took the feedbag, which vanished into stars. "Where do all these things go, anyways?" she asked.

"Who knows?"

Jenna walked around the pond. Amaterasu dove into it. "Wagh!" exclaimed Issun. "Warn me before you do that, furball!" He leapt from Amaterasu's head to the shore, and onto Jenna's shoulder. Jenna twisted her head to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Trying to look at you."

Issun didn't see the point of this. "What? Why?"

"I haven't been able to see you very well yet."

Now that he was up close, Jenna could see the tiny features of a face. Issun rolled his eyes. "You're weird, Jen." Jenna ignored this and turned to look at Amaterasu, who was twisting around in the pond, trying to catch the burning Holy Globes as they floated away from her and her splashing. Jenna wondered briefly whether to stay and let Ammy continue with her fun or to keep walking. The choice was obviously up to her, as she seemed to be the only one with an attention span greater than a squirrel's.

She made her decision and started walking. She scattered birdfeed next to the pond when she saw some sparrows, who twittered happily and gave them Praise. She kept walking down the hill, glancing up at the rock walls as she entered them. Amaterasu jumped out of the water and shook off her fur and followed at a trot.

Where the road split they found Mr. Orange out cold. Nearby, a man with a jug on his head played the flute unconcernedly. Jenna gave him a stare as they passed by. He nodded to her peacefully, and kept playing. Amaterasu suddenly double-checked and started back to stare at the jugheaded man, who jumped and stared back at her. They kept staring. Jenna wondered if Ammy had somehow initiated a staring contest. Then the man raised his head, as if startled, and looked around. Then he said urgently, "Ah... I feel it. I sense it. Foul beasts dwell in this place! Concentrate. Look hard. You see. Right behind you now..."

The arena appeared. Jenna tossed feathers at Amaterasu's targets, which were dispatched very quickly. Issun gaped. "Whoa! That was fast!" he said as the arena vanished.

"Humans are not witness to such battles, but I saw it! The fighting went on for exactly 7 seconds!" declared the man. Jenna wondered, _If he saw it, where was he? Invisible or something? Is he psychic?_

"I am Komuso. You three... I can sense a special presence upon you all. A blessing, perhaps? Certainly a light shines for you." _Yeah, the sun, _thought Jenna. "I have chosen to follow the path of Bhudda, but in you I sense another power. And I see the path you have chosen also holds the light of truth."

Praise floated from him to Jenna and Amaterasu. "Um, thank you," said Jenna to Komuso. He nodded and played his flute again.

They passed a large construction. Jenna glanced back and suddenly saw, "Hey, these are the observation deck supports!"

Amaterasu halted and looked up. Issun bounced on her nose. "Hey, you're right!" Jenna squinted. "What's that, up there? A treasure chest? How on earth did _THAT_ get there? Who put it there?"

"Don't question it, Jen, you'll just confuse yourself," assured Issun.

Jenna nodded in agreement. "How do we open it?" Amaterasu launched herself back up the hill, Jenna in hot pursuit. Amaterasu stood on the cliff, above and to one side of the chest. She looked at Jenna and crouched. Her Divine Instrument floated to hover over her head. Jenna got on her back, leaning forward to almost be lying down, as she had once done when she was younger and had tried to ride her dog like a horse. Amaterasu was a large wolf, and Jenna small in stature, so she found she was able to hold on well. Amaterasu padded back from the cliff and turned to face it. "Oh, no," said Jenna. "No. No no no no no no NO!"

Amaterasu launched herself off. Partway through the fall, the world froze and Amaterasu drew a Power Slash over the chest. They finished their fall with a jarring, but not painful, thump to the ground. A stray bead fell right in front of Amaterasu, who picked it up with a wolfish grin as Jenna rolled off her back. "Oh my god, Amaterasu, I could have DIED! YOU could have died! Issun... might have died!"

"Seriously?" complained Issun.  
>Amaterasu rolled her fiery eyes and nosed the bead to Jenna, who picked it up with a glare. Amaterasu pranced past her eagerly, and Jenna picked herself up with a huff. It was very difficult to argue with such an easygoing character.<p>

She followed Amaterasu down the pathway to the village, where a woman with a bucket on her head stood in a turnip field and watched them pass with a suspicious look. "What's up with her?" Jenna whispered to Issun. "Who knows?" he replied.

"Aw, don't mind my mama, she just doesn't want to deal with another dog," said a little boy. He held a string, on the other end of which was a dragonfly. "Another dog?" asked Jenna. "Yeah! Look there," he said, pointing to a brown dog with a purple bandanna around his neck and a purple orb fastening it. "That there's Hayabusa. He's the champion turnip-digger of this town!"

"Champion... turnip... digger?"

"Uh-huh. My mama has that turnip-field, see, and Hayabusa managed to dig up 9 turnips before she could catch him and whack him. There are actually 10 turnips in that field, but who could dig them all up? Tell you what, if your dog can dig up 10 turnips in a row, I'll admit she's the better canine!"

Jenna looked down at Amaterasu, who glanced up at her. "Uh, she's not my..."

"We accept!" exclaimed Issun. "Sure, being chased around isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but we won't back down from a challenge!"

Jenna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, is that Issun? Oh, I almost forgot, the name's Mushi," said Mushi.

"Yeah, that's him. And my name's Jenna."

"Nice to meet you, Jenna. Wow, look at her go!" exclaimed Mushi, the latter referring to Amaterasu, who was running around the field digging turnips. Issun was laughing like a maniac and hanging on to Ammy's fur as she dashed around. Mushi's mother was howling with rage and trying her best to catch her, but various things seemed to keep getting in her way, such as the bucket of water atop her head shattering, being mysteriously covered with ink many times, and being knocked back by invisible blows. "AARGH!" she screamed. "I'LL GET YOU-" She was covered in ink again. "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?"

Jenna sighed. "I wonder if they'd be so successful without all that stuff," she said, and Mushi shrugged. Hayabusa yawned. Amaterasu dug up the last turnip and smiled innocently at Mushi's mother, who was worn out from the constant chasing. "Why... you... fine. Take it."

Amaterasu brought over the oddly shaped turnip, which was reddish-colored. "Wow!" exclaimed Mushi. "That's the oddly shaped turnip me and Hayabusa have been looking for!" He accepted it from Amaterasu. "But that means that she dug up all 10 turnips! Fine, I'll admit. She's the better canine..." He looked sullen for a moment, but then perked up.

"Hail the digging champ!" exclaimed Mushi happily, starting to run around with his dragonfly. "Now me and Hayabusa have something new to shoot for!"

Jenna sighed, and they kept walking. Jenna saw the girl who was working her rice field. Amaterasu noticed as well, and walked over towards her. She stared at her inquisitively. The woman giggled and rubbed Amaterasu's ears. "Why, hello there, Snowy! What is it? Do you want a treat? I'm sorry, but I don't have any!" Jenna came walking up. "Hello," she said. "Oh!" said the girl. "Is this your dog?"

Jenna mentally rolled her eyes, and took the easiest reply as her answer. "Yes."

"Oh, she's so sweet. My name's Kushi, it's nice to meet you. I run the sake brewery in this village." Jenna blinked. _Sake?_ she thought. _Oh, that's right, sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink, isn't it?_

"Hey, Kushi!" exclaimed Issun, bouncing on Amaterasu's head. "Oh! Issun!" exclaimed Kushi. "Hello. Are you with this dog and her owner?"

"Uh, yeah, sorta. So, how are you doing, babe?"

"Oh, I'm doing well. My only problem is, the water wheel that I use to help me polish the rice is broken..."

"We can fix that!" exclaimed Issun. "Right, Jenna? Furball?"

"Oh, really?" said Kushi. "Thank you. But how can you fix it?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head. It'll get fixed!"

Amaterasu turned away and walked towards the wheel. "You know what to do, furball!" said Issun. Jenna watched as the Canvas appeared, and Amaterasu filled in the missing section of waterwheel. As the world resumed movement, the wheel was repaired and began to turn. "Oh, my!" exclaimed Kushi, delicately hurrying over to see the wheel. "Yay! Now I can get back to polishing the rice!"

She headed inside. Amaterasu cut the plants in her field, which somehow turned into rice balls. "What on earth?" said Jenna. Issun looked at her. "Don't question it."

"Right."

Jenna picked up a plate of rice balls and ate one. They were good, as she was hungry. Amaterasu, meanwhile, rushed about the field gobbling up every bit of food she could find. Then, without preamble or even a glance and a tailwag, Amaterasu trotted across the street to where an old woman was washing her laundry. Issun and Amaterasu seemed to be having a 'conversation' with her. Jenna approached. "Oh, hello, dearie. Is this your dog?" asked the woman.

Jenna nodded. "Oh, she's quite polite for such a big dog," commented the woman. Jenna noticed she had an orange on her head. _This must be Mrs. Orange,_ she thought.

"I was just telling her this- and maybe you can help me- but I've lost my drying pole. Have you seen it anywhere, dearie?"

Jenna shook her head. "No, ma'am. I'll try to find it for you!"

"Oh, that's quite kind of you, dear," said Mrs. Orange.

"No problem at all!" said Jenna with a smile, and walked away. Amaterasu followed after Mrs. Orange gave her a final stroke. Jenna looked around for a while, but couldn't find the pole anywhere. Jenna eyed the place where the drying pole was supposed to hang. "Amaterasu? Do you think-" she began, but Ammy was one step ahead of her, using Rejuvenation on the empty spot, which filled with a bamboo pole.

Jenna walked up to Mrs. Orange and smiled. "I found your drying pole, ma'am."

"Oh, thank you. Now I can get to drying the laundry!"

Soon the laundry was hung up. Mrs. Orange said happily, "Now, if only the sun would shine just a little brighter, my laundry would dry off in a jiffy!"

Amaterasu obliged by drawing the sun, which burned fierce and bright in the sky. "Oh! The sun!" exclaimed Mrs. Orange. "My laundry will be dry in no time!" She turned to look at Jenna. "I'll be making Cherry Cakes tonight, dearie. Come and visit if you like!"

Jenna smiled. "That sounds nice."

They made their way over the bridge. On the other side was another house. From inside Jenna heard snores. "Who on earth is that?" she exclaimed. "They snore loud!"

Issun shook his head. "That's Susano's house," he said, as if that explained everything.

Jenna blinked. "What?"

"He's Susano. Once you meet him, you'll get it."

Jenna sighed. "Whatever."

They kept going. Issun said, "This way leads out of Kamiki into Shinshu Field."

"Shinshu Field?"

"Yeah. It's a nice big field with a couple of hills and stuff. And there's a Dojo."

"Cool."

They approached the entrance. Jenna blinked. "Uh..."

Issun stopped bouncing on Amaterasu's head. "Um. That's not supposed to be there," he said, a trifle unecessarily. A large boulder blocked the way out. They walked towards it. "Whoooooa," said Jenna. "This thing is huge! How did it get here?"

"Who knows?" said Issun. As they drew closer they observed a man pushing the boulder with all his strength. "That guy's trying hard, but he sure isn't doing much to shift the boulder," muttered Jenna. "That thing's huge. I don't know how we're going to get out... Issun, is this the only path out of Kamiki?"

Issun considered. "Yeah."

Jenna frowned. "Shoot. I guess we're stuck, then."

Amaterasu growled agreement and walked up to the man. He seemed to be absorbed in his struggle with the boulder. Jenna tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, sir?"

There was no answer.

Jenna noted how he seemed to be moving with great effort. "Ugh... my body... feels like lead... Is this a curse?" he muttered. His eyes stared blankly. Jenna was slightly creeped out. She backed up and exchanged glances with Amaterasu and Issun. Amaterasu took a few steps forward and stared at the man with her fiery, glowing eyes. After a moment, he gasped and a strange version of a Green Imp sprang from his body.

_No, that's not a Green Imp,_ thought Jenna. _That's a Red Imp! _Green Imps appeared alongside the Red Imp.

"Cut the strings of the lute!" she exclaimed, jumping away from a tossed guitar. She tried to strike the Red Imp with a feather, however it blocked her strike with its lute. Amaterasu took the opportunity to slice the lute in half. It stared at the broken lute, then growled angrily and tossed it aside. It disappeared as it lunged for Amaterasu. She dodged effortlessly and struck him from behind as he passed. Jenna threw a feather at him, and then threw a feather at each of the Green Imps as well, as they had been ignored up until this part and were still at full strength. Issun yelped and jumped away from all the fighting to stand as far to the side as he could. He attempted to provide moral support. "Go, go! Look out, Jenna! Good job. Ammy, he's coming for you! Okay, you got it. Oh no look out for that over there-"

"Will you shut up!" exclaimed Jenna as she dodged the blow of a Green Imp and tossed a feather at it.

Issun paused. "Shutting up."

Jenna sighed. He could at least try to use a brush technique.

The Imps, as they were dispatched, transformed into flowers which were quickly raided by Issun. "Yeah! Yen!" he exclaimed.

"Good for you, Issun."

"Thank you."

The battle ended. The man pushed on the boulder for a few more moments, then sighed and relaxed in resignation. He turned around and pulled out a parasol. "Well, it seems I'm stuck. The curse has ended, but I still cannot move this boulder..."

Jenna said, "Excuse me, sir?" as she walked up from where she had been at the end of the battle.

"Oh! Hello there. I didn't see you there previously. Listen, I know this might be a bit sudden, but could you do me a favor?"

Jenna shrugged. "Uh, sure, I guess." It was starting to seem like their job here was to just do stuff for people. Not that she really minded. And Amaterasu didn't seem to care much, either.

"I've heard that Susano, descendent of the great Nagi, lives in this village. If anyone could move this boulder, it would be him!"

"Oh, brother," said Issun. Jenna could have sworn she saw him rolling his eyes. "Fine, we'll go get him." He muttered something under his breath. The man smiled. "Thank you. I'm a merchant, perhaps we could do a little trade..." he offered. Jenna nodded. "Sounds good."

(Chapter ends)

_Ok. There we go. It actually took some effort to keep Jenna from calling the merchant guy fat in her thoughts. It was also tough to keep her from laughing at him._

_Jenna: What? He is fat. So are the other merchants. They're all fat._

_Meta: But it's not nice to say so, Jen._

_Jenna: YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!_

_Meta: Actually, I kind of am. You signed a contract and everything._

_Jenna: ... one day... one day..._

_She'll be thanking me when she's popular. Anyways, see you next chapter!_


	7. Chapter 7: Susano

_HELLO! I'm back! It seems like this is going to be a rather sporadic story overall, so please bear with me... perhaps I'll have a spurt of inspiration sometime and upload more frequently. As it is, writing has been a bit of a grind with school picking up for me. Anyways. This chapter isn't very long, as I reached a point and went, "Hey, that sounds like a good place to end."_

_I also should mention that I got a new reviewer and that prompted me as well. Reviews are the best part of being a writer on here. Good ones, that is. A big thank you to HikariNoTenshi-San for reviewing and encouraging me!_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't, and never will, own Okami. I don't profit off of this material (scoff) and... yeah._

_(Author's notes end)_

After some shopping, Jenna had acquired several of each of the different kinds of feedbags on the recommendation of Issun. She had also been told to get some Steel Fist and Steel Soul Sake, a request which she had promptly denied, despite Issun's exhortations that they made you stronger. She did purchase a few Exorcism Slips, a Traveler's Charm, and some Holy Bones.

They went to Susano's house. The house at first glance appeared to be empty. Jenna frowned. The snoring was really, really loud. Who was sleeping so late in the afternoon? And where was he? She walked further in as Ammy sniffed the ground. The snoring seemed to be coming from below a large jar-urn thing. She drew her throwing feathers cautiously, debating whether or not to smash it. Amaterasu beat her to it, however, smashing her head straight into the urn without a moment's hesitation and jumping down the hole that was uncovered.

"Uh..." said Jenna, unsure of the morality of breaking people's stuff. But she followed after a moment to find Ammy sniffing and poking a man. He had a hero's face, but he snored like a bear. Issun grunted as Ammy kept poking and licking him in an attempt to wake him. "Yeah. He's out cold, as usual. We'll have to try something stronger..."

As soon as Issun said that, Amaterasu headbutted Susano. Jenna gasped and started, but she didn't have any time to try to stop her. She sighed. Amaterasu and Issun were clearly bent on doing what they wanted. They'd probably be fine... but what about her, hm? She was a girl who was traveling with them. By association, she might be deemed responsible for their actions, which was stupid. But he did wake up.

She was astonished that his only reaction was to stand up in a stretch and fold his arms. "Ah, I'm so well rested! I planned to meditate underground, but fell fast asleep!" He noticed her standing next to Amaterasu. "Huh? Who are you?" He continued self-righteously, "And what business do you have with Susano, the greatest warrior ever?"

Jenna managed to avoid flinching as words worked their way into her head. _The Great Warrior- Susano_, they informed her.

She hesitated before speaking. "Uh, sir, we've come to ask your help for a merchant. He wants you to help him near the entrance."

Susano waved away her request. "The Great Susano has no time for such matters. Go away, and do not interrupt my meditations." He turned away and sat down.

Jenna stared at him. "Um, there's a giant boulder blocking the entrance to the village-"

Susano whirled as he stood up. "Silence! The Great Susano does as he wishes! I will aid you in due time." He sat back down. She heard him mutter, "Just leave me alone."

Jenna frowned. She looked at Ammy, who tilted her head. Issun popped up onto Jenna's shoulder and whispered to her. Jenna thought, sighed, and nodded to him. Issun bounced excitedly and returned to Amaterasu. He tugged back one of her ears, and she tilted her head as she listened. She started panting and wagging her tail, though that could easily have been because she had thought of something cheerful. Susano glanced back at them. "Haven't I told you already? Leave now, or invoke my wrath!" Amaterasu nodded, though not to him. Jenna turned, climbed the steps and started climbing the ladder out.

Issun bounced. "Come on, pops." Amaterasu leapt forward and pulled Susano onto her back. "Put me down this instant! What will the neighbors think?" he exclaimed. Jenna was already walking out of his home when Amaterasu caught up, carrying a shaking, nervous Susano. He was glancing about in a paranoid fashion, and as Amaterasu took off towards the entrance of Kamiki he flopped backwards and frantically waved his arms, trying to keep his balance.

Jenna sighed and smiled. It wasn't the most diplomatic, but she had to admit that Issun's rather direct plans had a tendency to work.

As Amaterasu dropped Susano at the entrance to the village, Jenna walked up and stood next to her. Susano turned around and stomped his feet. Jenna could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. "What do you think you're doing? Can't you keep that dog under control?"

Jenna shrugged. "Firstly, she's not a dog, she's a wolf." Susano flinched. Jenna continued. "Secondly, she's very smart, and she will very well do whatever she wants!"

The merchant noticed them. He hurried up to them, and Susano noticed him and looked surprised. The merchant asked, "You're the legendary Susano?" Susano faced him. "Yep! None other than Susano, the greatest warrior who ever lived!"

The merchant sighed in relief. "I've got a favor to ask you. This huge boulder blocking the path is really getting in my way. Can't you do something about it?" Susano looked a little panicked. "What?" He fell silent.

The merchant looked worried. "Come on! Please! I mean, you are Nagi's descendent, aren't you? Surely one stone's no match for your mighty skills... right?"

"Hm..." Susano looked flustered. He hadn't been expecting this. He coughed. "It certainly is not beyond my ability."

The merchant looked excited. "Really? Great! Ok then, no time like the present. Go for it!" He began to bustle out of the way. Susano jumped. "Wait!" The merchant paused. "A boulder of this size is not very easy even for me. This will require my utmost focus to magnify the power of my sword. I shall retire to the training grounds to make preparations. Wait for my return," Susano said and he hurried away quickly. Jenna exchanged glances with Issun. They looked back after Susano. "Hm... I wonder," said Issun. "I've never seen that guy train seriously... ever."

Jenna shrugged. "Whatever, it's getting late. Maybe we should find someplace to rest." Issun glanced at her. "You do know that we have the _sun goddess_ with us, right? We could just make it morning again." Jenna stared at him. "Are you not tired?"

"Not particularly," Issun confessed.

Jenna huffed. "Well, I'm tired. And what about the villagers, huh? Even if you could take a nap, it's easier to sleep at night."

Issun snorted. "Fine, we'll find someplace. Gods."

"That's better."

Ammy panted happily, oblivious.

_(Chapter ends)_

_Jenna: Hey! I thought we were going to run around and talk to people!  
><em>_Meta: That part got cut, Jen.  
><em>_Jenna: That SUCKS!  
><em>_Issun: I'm going to have to agree with Jen, that completely SUCKS!  
><em>_Meta: Yeah well whatever. Both of you shut up, shut up. Now. Go away.  
><em>_Jenna + Issun: YOU'RE MEAN!  
>Meta: I'm the author, it's for the good of both of you, blah blah go away please and stop making noise so I can write. Besides, be patient, and we might rewind and do that in a blooper or something.<em>

_Next chapter: The gang rests and hopefully Susano gets us out of this village!_


	8. Chapter 8: Respite

_Sorry I haven't been active, guys! I went a little too quickly on my re-playthrough of the game in relation to my story, so I had to use other sources for research. And it was a major pain, so my writing slowed, and then I met writer's block, and urrrrrrrrrghhhh it sucked so bad._

_Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Every single one! Yes, if you've reviewed, then I _do_ know your name and I _do_ know you've reviewed. So thanks!_

_DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything, Capcom does, parody is free speech, etc etc.  
><em>

(Author's notes end)

Jenna walked with Amaterasu across the bridge in the middle of the village. Issun bounced atop Ammy's head. "So, where are we going to go, Jen?"

Jenna shrugged. "I was thinking we could ask with Mr. and Mrs. Orange where we could stay the night."

Issun stopped bouncing for a moment. "Huh... Yeah, I guess that sounds right."

They approached the Orange house. Jenna paused for a moment to look at the giant orange on top of the house in the rapidly fading sunlight. "Wow. They are obsessed." Issun commented, "Well they're old, they can afford to be crazy and senile."

Jenna frowned. "I wouldn't call them senile-"

"Aw, come off it, Jen, they're loony as bats."

Jenna sighed. She went up and knocked on the door. Mrs. Orange answered. She smiled at Jenna. "Hello, dear. Came for the Cherry Cakes, did you?" Jenna shook her head and began to mention that they were trying to find a place to stay, but Issun interrupted. "Food? There's food? Sure, let's have some!"

Mrs. Orange laughed. "Well come in, dears, I was just about to make them." Jenna sighed and glanced at Issun, who made no attempt to defend himself. Ammy seemed fairly happy to see Mrs. Orange in the first place, and when she saw Mr. Orange she seemed even happier.

Mrs. Orange moved slowly to the oven after telling Jenna to sit down. Issun bounced from Ammy's head to Jenna's shoulder to watch, and Amaterasu seemed busy with the food already cooked on the stove. Mr. Orange gave her a swift whack with his cane.

Mrs. Orange paused in front of the stove, exclaimed, "Hiiiiiiiii-YA!" and pounded a piece of dough. Issun froze and Jenna did the same, and the two of them exchanged glances. Mrs. Orange picked up the dough, and holding a little kitchen knife, abruptly threw the dough into the air. She sliced it faster than the eye could follow and it fell onto a pan she held. Issun and Jenna both stared at her with open mouths. Mrs. Orange smiled sweetly at them and put the dough into the oven, then slowly walked back to her chair like all her ninja skills didn't exist.

"There, they need to cook for a little now. So, tell me, dears, what brings you here? Other than the food, of course. Need somewhere to room for the night?"

"Yes, exactly," said Jenna, relieved that she didn't have to bring it up herself.

"Well that's fine, dears! We ourselves have a guest room for just such an occasion." Mrs. Orange nodded, then glanced at the stove. "Oh, they're almost done. They cook very fast." She pushed herself up. "Upsy-daisy..."

Jenna watched her closely as Mrs. Orange pulled out the cakes and decorated them with a bit of pinkish sauce. No further strangeness happened. She approached with a tray full of puffy cakes. "Here you are, dears. They're best when they're fresh!"

Jenna took a cake and sampled it. It was delicious, hot and moist. The dough tasted a little of cherries already, but the sweet syrup on top made it. "Comon, Jen, lemme have some!" exclaimed Issun, bouncing impatiently on her shoulder. "Okay, okay!" She held it towards him, and he bounced up and with a quick slice of his sword pulled off a bit for him to have.

"You might want the syrup, it really makes it," she said. Issun considered, then picked up some with his piece and proceeded to ignore her. Jenna took another bite, and heard Ammy whine a little. She looked up from her cake. Ammy was staring at her, panting hungrily and drooling a little. "Mrs. Orange? Give some to that girl there, she's hungry," laughed Jenna. Ammy got her cake and devoured it. Jenna examined the leaf atop the thing, and muttered to Issun, "Uh, when did she put these on the cakes?"

"What have I told you, Jen?" muttered Issun back, sounding like his mouth was full. "I'll have it if you don't want it." Having said this, he jumped up and snatched the leaf from the top. Jenna rolled her eyes and ate her cake, pausing for a moment to question why Issun was eating a leaf- no wait, don't question it. She sighed.

When they were full, it was then a little late, and the resident sun goddess looked to tire quickly at nighttime. _During the day, too, actually, _thought Jenna ruefully. Mrs. Orange showed them to their room. There was a pallet on the floor, which Jenna claimed for herself. Issun, meanwhile, said he didn't need a bed of any kind. Ammy just sort of walked in and curled up on the floor.

Jenna wasn't entirely sure what to do with her yukata. She was wearing another layer beneath it, so she took off the outer robe and sash and started figuring out how her hair was built.

She took off her little headband and pulled out the pin of her bun, and just like that, her hair rolled down. There were no other pins. Maybe the single one was magic or something. She shook out her long yellow hair and examined it. It hadn't tangled much, to her surprise. Great, her hair was magic now too.

"You got nice hair, Jen," commented Issun lazily from his spot by the wall. "I ain't seen anyone with gold hair before."

Jenna paused at this. Now that she focused on it, she hadn't seen anyone else around with blond hair either. They all had black hair, like in Japan. Well, she was obviously somewhere that was related to Japan, duh. She was maybe even _in_ Japan, some huge amount of time before her years. But you'd think- nevermind it. "Thanks, Issun."

"Yeah," said Issun. "M' gonna go to sleep now." Jenna nodded, set down the pin from her hair, and slipped into her pallet. She didn't know when exactly she fell asleep, but it was fast.

Morning came with an energetic dog. Jenna woke up to hot breath on her arm, and opening her eyes she saw Ammy laying close next to her, wagging her tail and panting. "Good morning, Ammy," she yawned. Ammy barked. "Ow. That hurt my ears. Don't do that, Ammy. Still tired."

"Tell me about it," muttered Issun, evidently still trying to sleep.

Ammy nudged Jenna's arm.

"Fine, I'm getting up."

Jenna dressed back in her yukata and shoes and rolled up her hair, sticking the little purple lily in at the bottom of the bun. Yep, it stayed, just like that- _whyyyyy._

Ammy was poking Issun with a paw. "No way, furball, I'm sleeping," he muttered, remaining obstinately still until suddenly-

"EW! Furball, was that _necessary?_" Issun jumped to his feet, shaking off spit from Ammy's lick. "Dog slobber- yeuck!" As Issun jumped around making general sounds of discomfort, Jenna stared at herself in the mirror. Supposedly, when you have a really weird dream, you're supposed to wake up when you fall asleep- but she didn't really believe she was dreaming anymore. At all.

She sighed and glanced at the others. Issun was trying to clean himself off. She heard "Ew, ew, ew," coming from him and snorted. Well, if she had to not be dreaming anyplace, here seemed like a decent one.

They eventually exited the house. Jenna marveled at the fact that because they didn't really have any luggage, they could just kind of leave. The Oranges gave them cheery "good morning!"s as they appeared(or really, Mrs. Orange did), and waved them out the door(again, Mrs. Orange).

They checked the front of the village first thing. "Boulder's still there," commented Issun dryly.

"Duh, Issun," scoffed Jenna. "Obvious much?"

"Shut up, Jen."

They went to seek out Susano, and found him behind his house. Jenna stared at him, and Issun shook his head hopelessly. He was lying on the ground, drinking sake. As they approached, he began to stare into the jar. "I can't believe I've run out at a time like this!" he exclaimed, and threw away the jar.

"Yo, what are you doing?!" asked Issun. "You said you'd help!"

"What?!" Susano jumped to his feet. "Oh. It's you." He scowled at them. "I can't do it, obviously."

"I thought you had a legendary ancestor?" said Jenna pointedly.

Susano floundered and coughed. He folded his arms. "Er, what I mean is... I can't train without... er... sake! Yes! I need sake to boost my power. And I've just run out. So, you see, I can't do it."

"If we get you sake, will you at least try to help?" asked Issun, with a glance at Jenna.

Susano gave them a suspicious look. "...I suppose...?"

Issun and Jenna exchanged glances, nodded, and sauntered off. "Jen, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Issun conspiratorially.

"Are you thinking we should go get the lazybones some sake?"

"Yeah."

"Then yes, I am. Let's go."

Kushi, being grateful to them for somehow fixing her water wheel, was more than happy to present them with a sake she called the Vista of the Gods. Jenna carried it with a smirk back to Susano. Before she even reached him, he jumped to his feet. "That smell!"

He snatched the jug from her. "Is this Kushi's homemade sake?" He stared at it with wide eyes. "A man without drink is like a warrior without his trusty sword! Kushi's sake is the best!" He drank it down. "Ah, yes! It's all so clear! I can do this!"

He lunged at a training dummy. For a moment it seemed like nothing happened, then suddenly the dummy was cut and fell apart. Startled, Jenna exchanged glances with Issun, then suddenly her attention was drawn to Ammy. Ammy looked at her and wagged her tail. "Did you-" Jenna started to whisper, and then her attention was diverted by Susano's next attack. Again, the dummy was cut in half by his wooden sword.

"Take this! Susano-style... EXPLODING IMPLOSION!" exclaimed Susano. Jenna stared at him with huge eyes as he attempted to cut a rock... and succeeded. Susano stared at it for a moment, then screamed, "YEAH!" and sprinted off. They followed him to the front of the village, where he proceeded to slice the boulder completely in half.

"That's AMAZING!" exclaimed the merchant. "You cut it straight in half!"

"Good job, pops!" said Issun. "Pops?" asked Jenna. "What?" Issun shrugged.

Susano was staring at his sword with a bemused look. The merchant clapped him on the back. "Truly excellent! I didn't think anyone could do that!"

"Neither did I..." muttered Susano distantly, then jumped and covered with, "Well, of course _I_ could! I am Susano, the _greatest warrior ever!_" He held his sword up in the air confidently.

"You weren't just bragging when you claimed to be descended from Nagi!" said the merchant happily. "Now I can set up business!"

"And we can get out!" said Issun with equal cheer.

"Watch out for monsters," warned the merchant. "Although, come to think of it- if they come anywhere near this warrior, they'll be diced, hm?" asked the merchant with a booming laugh. He nodded to Susano and walked away.

Susano held a terrible poker face, behind which was obviously nerves. "Yeah, monsters, right."

He cleared his throat. "Yes! I'll fight these monsters. Because I am the- Greatest. Warrior. Ever!" He sprinted from the town, laughing.

"He's nothing without us," scoffed Issun. "Really?" asked Jenna.

"You bet. All that swordwork was us." Ammy growled. "Okay, it was Ammy. Anyways, do you think he'll be okay? He just kind of went off there... Well, can we go?"

"Wait... Glorious Amaterasu..." A strong scent blew on the winds, bringing cherry blossoms raining around them. They turned. Before them appeared a woman floating in the air. She wore a pink and green long-sleeved kimono, and was wreathed in violet mist.

"Who are you?" asked Jenna, freaked out. "You just popped up!"

The fair face turned to regard her. "Hello, traveler. I am Sakuya, spirit of the great tree."

"What is it, babe?" asked Issun. Sakuya turned her head to Amaterasu. "Glorious Amaterasu... When you cleaved the boulder in half, my heart skipped a beat. To watch your skill with the brush is to bear witness to great art." Jenna kept herself from rolling her eyes. Reverence was great for a goddess, she supposed, but the flattering seemed a little over-the-top. Glancing over the sprite's outfit, she paused. Was that a peach pattern or was that... She pressed her lips together and kept a straight face.

"Do we get a reward?" asked Issun.

"I hardly think your participation had any impact, little bug," said Sakuya.

"It's ISSUN! Issun, Issun, Issun! Stop calling me a bug!" he cried, bouncing and glowing a furious red. "I'll crawl back into your kimono if you say that again!"

"My word!" exclaimed Sakuya, flinching.

"Aw, relax, lady. Furball here's more comfortable anyway." Ammy objected to this, quirking her head to try and look at him.

"In any case, I am afraid I cannot reward you at this time. I have not the strength. Though my body remains firmly here, in the village, my roots spread far and wide. They come to the surface, bloom and create a Guardian Sapling. They collect the praise and adoration that gives me strength. The recent evil has eroded and withered them. If this continues, I will wilt, and die, and the darkness will grow all the faster for it. Life as we know it... will be consumed utterly."

The atmosphere was very serious. "Aw man... this is getting heavy." That was Issun, just as aware of the dark mood.

"Great and powerful Amaterasu. Will you aid me? Will you restore the saplings and erase the evil blight?" She looked at Jenna. "Traveler... have you a map?"

Not even thinking too heavily about the concept of never having bought one, Jenna produced one from stars. Sakuya touched it once, and Jenna looked at the red marks that had appeared. "I have marked the locations of the saplings. Now, I have grown tired... I must withdraw."

She faded, sparks of light and flower blossoms shimmering around her incorporeal form. "May the fresh scent of flowers protect you always..." She was gone.

Issun bounced around on the ground. "Bah. I'm always itching for a good fight, but I sure don't wanna poke my nose into this mess!" He muttered something to himself. "Anyway, Ammy's a god and all... what could possibly go wrong?"

Jenna winced. "Don't say that. That's always bad luck. Just watch, now we're going to get pounded by all kinds of stupid things, just because you said that." Issun scoffed. "Yeah right. What makes you say that?"

"Hey... Hey! Furball! Did you hear _any_ of that?" Issun began bouncing over to Amaterasu, who was curled up on the ground. She yawned and sat up. "You're joking," said Jenna. "You slept through all that?"

Ammy yawned again and wagged her tail.

"Wow," said Jenna, shaking her head despairingly. "If this is the goddess who's going to save the world... Well, the world had better not be in a hurry to end, then, huh? We're not exactly top-speed here."

"You betcha!"

Jenna sighed.

(Chapter ends)

_Yeaaaaaah I did it! Once I managed to get it going, it went along swimmingly. I tried to deviate from exact dialogue and utilize my own twists as often as possible, but sometimes the game just nails things, so I use that._

_Jenna: Hurray...  
><em>

_Pch. Jenna's tired because of all the storytelling that got done. She got used to vacation.  
><em>

_Jenna: You suck...  
><em>

_You're my character, Jenna, so I'll forgive you. But I don't remember authorizing you to give me lip. I don't pay you for that.  
><em>

_Jenna: You don't pay me at all!  
><em>

_Storytelling is it's own reward. Hmph.  
><em>


	9. Chapter 9: Shinshu Field

_Hey look, I'm updating in a timely fashion! How amazing! Happy New Year, y'all. Have a cursed field._

_Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but Jenna._

(Author's notes end)

They exited through a canyon. It wound on for a little while, and their path led through it, lined occasionally with dead and blackened trees. Jenna took the opportunity to examine their map and the red marks on it, left by Sakuya. "Issun, where is Kamiki on this map?" Issun jumped up and examined the map for a moment, then said, "Up here, this branch. See this whole big circular area? That's Shinshu Field, where we're headed. It's the most beautiful field in all of Nippon. I'm not so sure as of right now, though. With all the strange things going on, I'm getting a bad vibe..."

Amaterasu picked up the pace, starting to run forward. There seemed to be an opening up ahead. They headed towards it, and through it. Then they were out. A huge field met Jenna's eyes, and she stopped dead, as did Amaterasu. She heard Issun say, "Whoa..."

Huge indeed it was, broad and wide-open and bordered by higher walls of stone. Their feet were on a packed-down, sandy path, and grass spread out a ways on either side. The occasional stone and bush dotted the plant life. But the field itself wasn't what had arrested their attention. Most of it was covered in a grey, like dead stone, the color of wet concrete. Over this grey writhed strange auras of red and black.

"Hey, what's that up there?" asked Issun. He jumped off Amaterasu's nose and forward a ways, then stopped, likely peering forward. "I think that's the Guardian Sapling. But look at it! It looks like it's about to fall over!"

Jenna looked. Up ahead, the path branched. One part led straight into the mysterious zone of grey. Another path, splitting off, led to the left. But straight ahead was what seemed to be a gateway. They headed towards it, skirting carefully the deadened, bleak patches of earth that spiked in parts outward from the huge stony blot.

"Watch it," warned Issun. "Those Demon Scrolls mean trouble."

"Demon Scrolls?" Jenna glanced at a nearby green-and-black scroll and its accompanying spirit fires.

"Yeah. If they catch you, they summon monsters to give you a beating. Not that we got anything to worry about..."

Having moved a little closer, Jenna looked again. Through the gate was a big tree with many branches, curling into a spiral at the top like Sakuya's had. The smaller branches were thin and brittle, the larger ones seemed to droop under their own weight, and the whole tree was the dark color of dead wood. "Wow," said Issun. "This tree is supposed to be a place for travelers to rest and recuperate. Look at it."

They covered the final bit of distance and stared up at it. Jenna took a step forward and heard a crack. Looking down, she saw that many sticks had fallen from the tree. Looking at the tree again, she saw it was wrapped around with an off-white rope, and from the rope hung zigzagging streamers of paper. She understood this was supposed to mean the tree was sacred- she'd seen them in pictures of shrines from Japan. The white paper stood out ironically against the dark tree.

Issun bounced up to Jenna's shoulder and onto her head. She felt him shifting, looking around at the field. "This place is definitely cursed by the looks of it! Places where evil has taken hold, luring monsters from far and wide, are known as cursed zones. But I've _never_ seen one this big. It's withered all the plant life in the area, even the tree!" Jenna started as she realized he was right- the grass of the field that was visible was a deadened brown.

"It'd take a monster with powers beyond a god to do this..." she heard Issun say. He paused. "Man, this is depressing. That tree's an offshoot of Sakuya. It protects the plant life in this area. Maybe the natural beauty here would return if we revived it, but how would we do that?"

As Issun stood thinking, Jenna walked over to the cursed zone, and Ammy followed her. She crouched to look at the dead ground, and then reached out and touched it.

A terrible evil force overwhelmed her, rooting her to the ground. She couldn't move. The sky turned black, the air was filled with choking dust. She realized with panic that she couldn't breathe...

Amaterasu lunged and tackled her, knocking her away from the curse and breaking her out of its power. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath. "Holy cow!" exclaimed Issun, leaning on her forehead to look at her. "This is bad!" He jumped off of her and onto Ammy and stared at the curse. Amaterasu nudged Jenna's hand, whining softly.

"I'm okay, Ammy," panted Jenna, sitting up and rubbing the top of the goddess' head reassuringly. Ammy yipped at her. Issun bounced on Amaterasu's back. "It looks like your regular cursed zone from the outside. But the evil in it is far worse than it looks! It would curse a normal person in a flash!" He bounced back to stand on Jenna's hand. "Are you sure you're okay, Jen?"

"Yeah, I think so. Just a little shaken up."

"You must be pretty strong to resist for even more than a second. Still, it almost got ya. You be careful, alright?"

"Why do you care?" asked Jenna wryly, managing to grin at him. His normal green glow turned an embarassed pink. "Well, you're a pretty strong fighter and all, ya know, don't want you dying on me now, and plus you're a hot babe, it's nice to keep you around just to look at ya!" He laughed. Jenna's eyes narrowed with annoyance and she flicked him away with her other hand. "Ow. Yeah, yeah, I deserved it, whatever. Look, can we drop it?" he said, brushing himself off.

"Sure," said Jenna, not really having the energy to pursue the subject further.

"Great."

Ammy nudged Jenna's hand, giving her one last look-over with her golden, sunny eyes. Jenna became suddenly aware that her arms were shaking with fatigue. "I'm fine, Ammy." She stood, and nearly fell with dizziness. "Yeah, I am totally _not_ fine," she said ironically. "I can barely stand up."

Amaterasu barked. "Can I ride on you for a little bit, Ammy?" she asked. Amaterasu wagged her tail and let Jenna climb on. "Where should we go?" asked Issun. "We can't do anything here for now."

"Somewhere else, then," suggested Jenna. "Maybe we'll find something that'll help us."

Ammy trotted out of the gate, apparently unbothered by the added weight of Jenna on her back. They took the first branching path that split to the right as they moved away from the tree. Jenna pointed out a house. "D'you think whoever lives there didn't get cursed, maybe?"

"Maybe," said Issun. "We should check, at least." Amaterasu sped up, suddenly racing over the ground with astonishing speed. Jenna clung on as tightly as she could. They reached the house in a flash and Ammy skidded to a stop. Conveniently, the owner of the home chose that moment to appear. He had an axe in hand and looked like he was going to chop some wood. Jenna climbed off of Amaterasu's back, discovering that she had recovered somewhat, perhaps due in part to the proximity of the goddess. "Thanks, Ammy," she said.

They approached the man. Jenna let Issun do the talking. "Yo!" he called. "D'you know what happened here?"

When the man spoke, it was with a mellow, inward voice. Jenna thought he sounded like a hippie. Did hippies even exist in ancient Japan? Whatever. "I was out here chopping wood and communing with nature when I heard a loud rumbling from the lake. Then there was a huge gust of wind. I don't know what happened next, but when I came to, it was like this. Sorry."

"Well, I guess that helps a little," said Issun halfheartedly.

"I noticed a figure running from the lake towards Kamiki," offered the man. "Does that help?"

"It might," said Jenna. "Thanks."

As they were about to leave, Jenna suddenly pointed towards a nearby cave. "What's in there? Do you know?"

"I do, man. It's the entrance to a place called Hana Valley, the site of an awesome waterfall. But monsters have moved in there now. There's a trippy crystal ball that makes plants grow enshrined there. Actually, not long ago, that Susano guy went marching in there. It's weird. Normally he runs away at the sight of monsters. Anyway, you shouldn't go in there, man. Bad karma. You might get attacked."

"Thanks," said Jenna, and turned to follow after Ammy.

"What was that for?" asked Issun.

"There's a Guardian Sapling in there. Didn't you look at the map?"

"Yeah, well-!"

"Forget it, we need to get in there," Jenna interrupted. "I don't like that curse at all, and the longer we go without a solution, the more nervous I'm going to get."

"Yeah, it's spreading pretty fast, huh?"

Amaterasu was already trotting away. Jenna tried to jog after her, and had to call, "Ammy, wait up!" The goddess stopped, making Jenna do the same as she caught up. "Thanks." Amaterasu gave her an intense look. The Canvas appeared, and Jenna blinked as Ammy's brush drew a circle around her, like she was using the Sunrise technique.

The world restarted, and Jenna froze as golden light shone around her and filled her with warmth. Something inside her, some wound slowly healing, closed up, and her energy came back. Jenna grinned with amazement. "Whoa! What did you do?" The red-and-white wolf gave her a doggy grin. "Thank you!" said Jenna, petting Ammy's thick fur.

Ammy licked her hand, then started to trot away. This time, Jenna kept up.

Ahead, a wooden bridge crossed a stream. Amaterasu ignored this, and took a left, but Jenna stopped as she saw the stream. Clogged with slow-moving mud, it certainly didn't look healthy. She looked up and got a foreboding feeling. That water was coming out of Hana Valley.

(Chapter Ends)

_How's that? Jenna and Issun are pretty fast friends, hm? There hasn't been much joking in this chapter, but uh, I think it's kind of hard to joke around with a big giant field of evil power kind of looming right there. Yeah. Anyways, Jen and Issun are both just getting used to_ _doing chapters, so they flat-out refused to do author's notes. Heheheheh._


	10. Chapter 10: Hana Valley

_Sorry for the delay, everyone! I just can't seem to make myself be regular, huh? It's okay, though- because this one is EXTRA LONG!_

_No really. It's super freaking long. I am warning you now._

_Disclaimer: See every previous chapter._

* * *

><p>As they traveled through the tunnel, the first thing Jenna noticed was a light. When they emerged, it was naturally the first thing she investigated, and she saw it was an Origin Mirror. She recalled that she'd seen one at the exit to Kamiki, but hadn't used it. That lazy old Susano had distracted her. She approached it and stared at it. Sure enough, her reflection appeared.<p>

"C'mon, Jen," said Issun impatiently. "Hurry up."

"Shut up," she said automatically, popping up and chasing after them. They followed the winding path, finding a treasure chest at the top of the rise. Inside was a white Traveler's Charm, which Jenna soon understood to have a spell of protection cast on it. She had to deliberately ignore why it was placed in a chest and felt her willful suspension of disbelief taking hold, just like in any video game. She looped it around her wrist and they kept going. They crossed a bridge of logs- and then spotted their first enemies.

Several Green Imps were dancing(or staggering, Jenna thought wryly) around a fire. A few Red Imps sat drinking heavily from huge bowls(thus explaining the staggering). Amaterasu growled at them softly. Her growling got louder and louder, causing the music to slowly halt. The imps looked around, and spotted them. They flinched back. Jenna glanced at Amaterasu, and nearly jumped herself.

In the darkness of the valley, the goddess' red markings glowed like fire, like blood. Her eyes gleamed with foreboding anger and her fur puffed up. Contrary to growing darker around her, the air cleared in waves away from her. Around the Mirror on her back, the flames burned with extra fire, flaring up as if from a bellows. She looked every inch like a Sun Goddess.

She barked and growled at the imps, and they nearly fled. Then one more intelligent Red Imp squawked at its fellows, who shook their heads and drew their weapons.

The arena appeared. Jenna quickly assessed their enemies. Two Red Imps, three Green Imps. Amaterasu charged straight in, leaving Jenna to fend for herself on the edge of the fray. Two of the Green Imps chose to ignore Amaterasu, perhaps thinking Jenna to be an easier target. They nodded at each other. One approached Jenna and started attacking her, forcing her to jump and duck for a little before managing to get in her first hit with a feather. Amaterasu, snarling, was busy raining fiery torment upon one of the Red Imps.

The other Green Imp attacking Jenna screeched at it's fellow, which paused for a moment and allowed Jenna to hit it again. It backed off for a moment, and Jenna was accordingly surprised by the feeling of a dart burying itself into her skin. She yelped with surprise, but not, she realized, with pain. A white light peeled from her skin as if shattered, taking the dart with it, and on her wrist, Jenna felt the Traveler's Charm break.

She didn't have time to investigate as the first Green Imp hit her again. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "Jerk!" She rapid-fired two weapons to its face and it burst into light. "And you!" she exclaimed, tossing a feather in the direction of the dart-blower. "When did you get so smart?!"

"I dunno, Jen, I thought they were designed to be morons!"

At this comment from Issun, the Green Imp went an angry red and threw a tantrum. Steam blew out of his ears and he stomped angrily, rushing in to attack Jenna blindly. She threw one feather right after its first clumsy attack, and a few more evasions burst it. Jenna spotted the tiny green speck of Issun springing in to raid the flowers. "Nothing to worry about after all," Jenna said with a grin. "Still stupid idiots."

Amaterasu had dealt with a Green Imp and one Red Imp. She was swinging to attack the next Red Imp, and it was blocking her, much to her frustration. She barked at it. "Ammy, did you forget already?" exclaimed Jenna. Her brush formed in her hand and she tugged up her Canvas. She sliced right across the instrument of the Imp, and as things moved, it broke right in half. "Nice one, Jen!" called Issun.

The Imp threw one side of its instrument aside in disgust. The neck of the lute, which it kept, it now used as a weapon. It lunged at Jenna in anger and managed to deliver a stinging, sharp blow to her arm. She yelped, and the arrow she threw missed. Amaterasu barked quick, like a terrier, and hit the Imp with the same speed. It vanished, and the arena did the same.

"Ooohhh..." said Jenna, rubbing her arm. "Ouch." She checked her arm. A few splinters had dug into the skin, and blood was welling in patches from the red skin.

Amaterasu rolled a Holy Globe into Jenna's feet. "Thank you, Ammy," said Jenna, picking it up. She examined it. "What should I do? Eat it?"

"Well, you could..." said Issun. "I guess. I think they're edible, but they're difficult to chew." He laughed, then subsided as he realized the joke wasn't really that funny. "Whatever. Try just putting it over the spot where you're hurt."

Jenna did this, holding the warm Globe over her wound. She watched, fascinated, as it drew out the splinters and cleaned away the blood. She pressed it to the raw injury and felt no pain from the contact. In addition, any other pain cleared away. The small Holy Globe then broke and turned itself into sparkling dust. "Coooooool," she said, rubbing the smooth, unbroken skin. "That's so awesome."

Ammy barked delightedly. As if on cue, a swirl of green magic began to clear the nearby pond. An island appeared from the murky water, but then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was covered over with dark magic.

"The evil here is still too strong," said Issun. "Even getting rid of the monsters didn't help. We can't try to do anything until we do something about the aura in this place."

"Yeah."

"By the way, Jen, nice brushwork during that battle. That was pretty good."

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" That's right, she'd used a Power Slash right in the middle of the battle. Odd, she wasn't very good at that one. "Maybe it's because I wasn't thinking too hard about it."

"Maybe!" said Issun. "Anyways, you show promise. Nothing near my own skill, of course!"

"You kidding? I haven't seen you helping any!"

"Well, er..."

"You're such a joker," said Jenna, rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me!?"

"Calm down, it wasn't that big an insult... you like to joke around, get it?"

"Hmph." Issun had no retort, shockingly enough, so they kept walking.

They moved upward through the valley. Jenna peered ahead through the gloom. The place was filled with haze and odd shapes. The smoke looked to be moving- yes, it was. It had a mind of its own. Jenna shivered.

Movement up ahead caught her eye. It was different from the sluggish shifting of the curse. She called out, "Wait!"

Ammy stopped and glanced back at Jenna. "What now, Jen?" asked Issun impatiently.

"Is that tree... moving?"

The threesome's gaze moved anxiously to a tree up ahead, twisted and gnarled, with strange, glowing fruit hanging heavily from its boughs. As they watched, they noticed how it seemed to be swinging back and forth. A spirit fire erupted silently from one of its branches, wraithlike, and merged with it again with the same lack of noise.

"That's definitely moving," confirmed Issun.

"That is so wrong on so many levels," said Jenna. "Trees don't move."

"Well, this one does."

"What should we do?"

"Keep going?"

"What if it attacks?"

"Keep going!"

"So we're not going to try to think about this."

"Nope!"

Amaterasu wagged her tail and bounded forward, startling both Jenna and Issun. "Hey, furball!" exclaimed Issun. "Nearly fell off there."

As they drew closer to the dark tree, Jenna noticed how dark fires danced along it without burning it. _That hurts my head to even watch,_ she thought. _I don't care if it's magic, fire should burn a tree. They don't coexist._ Plus, it was creepy.

Suddenly, a fruit from the tree grew in size. The whole tree swiveled rapidly(how on _earth_ was it able to do that if it had roots) and lobbed its glowing cargo straight at Amaterasu, who dodged. "Show it we mean business, Ammy! Hit its fruit back at it!" Another tree attempted to throw a bulb at them and Amaterasu Power Slashed it back towards the tree. As the tree reeled, stunned, they slipped past it and ran uphill.

At the top of the hill, a mural captured their attention, but before they could even reach it to get a better look, they were assaulted by a group of enemies. First two Green Imps appeared, then something began to burrow beneath the ground. In between the two Imps a yellow Imp made an impressive entrance, bearing a drum, which it beat a few times before vanishing again beneath the ground.

With the appearance of the Imp, Jenna had acquired the necessary information to defeat it in her mind. It popped from the ground, and she had just time to call "Ammy! Watch for the vibrations from the drum!" before she had to jump into the air to evade the attack herself.

The battle was swift and dynamic. Jenna danced around the trails made by the burrowing Imp, battling a persistent Green one. Amaterasu finished her own fight, and came to aid Jenna with the final blow. Both of them faced the Yellow Imp together. As it pulled itself up from the ground, Amaterasu slid behind it and struck, pulling it completely from its nest. Working together, Ammy and Jenna managed to deal some damage before it dug underground again. They repeated the tactic, managing to defeat it, ironically, after it attempted to do a more powerful attack. It tried to use its drum like a cannon and left itself wide-open. It was Jenna who finished it off.

The arena disappeared. Their attention was drawn to the mural as it glowed a bright yellow, and then they looked to the continuing path. It was blocked by a rock on the way forward, and trying to move that rock was...

"Hm? What's all that racket?" Susano turned around.

"Seriously?" complained Jenna. "You didn't notice any of what was going on?"

Susano gave her his usual scowl, and Ammy wagged her tail excitedly. "Why did you follow me? Come to see more of the great Susano at work? I'm not taking apprentices." He glanced around. "And Hana Valley isn't a place for a girl like you."

"I'm tougher than I look," she said, crossing her arms. Susano gave her a glare.

"I can't let you through, anyways," said Susano. "Beyond this point is my secret training ground. I'm going there now. After all, it's the perfect place to hide-"

A pause. Jenna and Ammy simultaneously gave Susano a look that said _Come again?_

"Er, I mean, to train!" He waved his arms dismissively. "Anyways, run along! It's my place! Scoot!" He drew his sword.

"Easy, pops!" said Issun. "Fine, whatever," said Jenna. "We'll go. Put your toy sword away."

Susano turned back towards the rock and kept trying to push it, eliciting eyerolls from Jenna. The _productive _adventurers turned their attention to the mural on the wall, which seemed to depict light on a sphere and a plant growing. "Huh," said Issun. "That guy said that a crystal sphere that makes plants grow is enshrined somewhere around here. Based on the painting, I'd say he's right."

Jenna peered at the painting. "Doesn't it seem like there's something missing?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah..."

They considered the mural. "It's making light," offered Issun.

"Duh." Jenna glanced with a practiced puzzle-solver's eye over the image. It reminded her of puzzles in games that she'd played. "It's making a plant grow and it's glowing," she said, thinking aloud. She looked at Ammy, who looked back at her, Issun balanced on her nose. "It's probably the sun, actually."

"Draw it in, Ammy?" asked Issun.

A moment passed where Amaterasu painted in a careful circle. Following this, a bright red, stylized sun filled in the empty space. The ground began to shake.

"What in heaven's name-?!" exclaimed Susano, jumping backwards from the boulder he was trying to move. A yellow symbol engraved itself on the rock, which promptly blew itself into pieces and released a flood of black water.

Susano rubbed his eyes and gaped at the empty space for a few moments. "How did that..." He straightened. "Well, now I can go hide-" He cleared his throat and casually coughed. "I mean, now I can go train!" He ran off down the trail. Amaterasu wagged her tail and trotted gleefully in the same direction.

"Right, so nobody here thinks normally at all," sighed Jenna. "If that happened where I came from, someone would go tell the police, and then people would be _all over_ this place in two days flat. At least someone would post it on the internet."

"Why are you talking to yourself, Jen?" asked Issun.

"I'm trying to keep myself sane," she responded ironically.

"Oh, I do that too."

Jenna nodded and rolled her eyes. "Honestly," she muttered.

"Yo Jen, comon!" exclaimed Issun. "You're gonna get left behind!"

Jenna sighed and allowed herself to be carried up the cliff at the end of the passage. An arch in the stone of the tunnel led into a large chamber. In the center of the room was a small green plant. Beyond it was a raised platform of sorts with two stones on it, and beyond that a split in the rocks offered a view of the sky. Around the hill where the plant grew was a dark ring of stone.

"This place is weird," said Jenna. "But cool."

"Is this the secret training ground Susano was talking about?" said Issun dubiously.

"I don't see him. Where'd he go?" Jenna muttered.

They approached the plant in the middle. Jenna knelt by it and touched it. It was frail and vividly green, its leaves trembling slightly at her touch. A faint scent of flowers drifted from it. "That's Sakuya's scent," said Issun. "This is a Guardian Sapling, then. But why on earth is it so small? And that painting- it showed a huge tree!"

"It also showed a smaller sapling," Jenna pointed out.

"What made the difference?"

"The sun? We added that."

"And something else, wasn't there?"

"Yeah. I see the opening for the sun. I see the sapling. What I don't see is that ball in the middle."

They paced up to the platform. Amaterasu immediately spotted a square puddle of water between the two stones, and chose to pounce on it. She began to dig in the puddle, splashing water out. It looked like the bottom of the dip containing the water was stone, so she wasn't actually doing anything. Just digging water.

"What are you doing, Ammy? Stop," said Jenna, staring at the goddess.

Ammy gave a doggy grin and sat down while Jenna glanced at the setup. "Sun. Plant. Stones and puddle in the middle. The puddle is probably where it goes, only where's that crystal?"

Ammy sniffed the ground, and started to track along. "Oh, you got something?" asked Jenna, barely restraining herself from immediately treating Amaterasu like Lassie. Ammy paused to "point" at the wooden gate in the wall, then Power Slashed through them and walked through normally. Jenna followed. She and Ammy both climbed up the hill by the path they walked on to pause at an Origin Mirror, then proceeded to the next room.

"RAWR!" cried Susano.

"What now?!" That was Issun.

"You... You foul beast!" spluttered Susano. "How did you get in here?" He posed with his sword, ready to attack.

Jenna just stood on the side. This was just about the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. There was Susano, all poised to strike, and there on the other side of the room...?

That was a bear standing on a ball. With a leaf on it's head.

"You have some nerve sneaking into my private training ground! Now you shall get a taste of my new secret technique!"

"Your 'foul beast' looks like an ordinary sleepy bear, pops," said Issun. Amaterasu appeared to be checking Susano for his sanity.

"Enough talk! My blade thirsts for battle!" Susano drew back. "Here goes nothing! Susano-style SUSANO!"

What kind of dumb attack was that? It was his name. He said his name twice in the attack. It-

"SU! SA! NO! SUSANO!" With great flair, he cut each torch in the room in half. Well, hey. He really did say his name twice.

"Now for Susano-Style... Exploding Implosion!"

He went for the bear. Jenna could see the cut. Surely, this was a powerful attack. The bear would no doubt sustain the worst injury possible.

The bubble on its nose popped. With a startled look, the bear floundered and dramatically fell down on the floor.

"That'll teach you, you foolish beast! You're no match for my new secret technique!"

The room was silent. No, not silent. A loud grumbling came from the bear. It was snoring. Amaterasu paced forward and gave Susano a searching look. Jenna, too, was starting to seriously doubt that Susano was in any way a sane person. There was no doubt that he was stupid. But really, was he sane at all?

Susano glanced at Amaterasu and did a double-take. He straightened up and coughed. "Uh, rest in peace, foul beast. The great warrior Susano condemns the offense, not the offender."

He really hadn't noticed them come in. "You realize that thing's not dead, right?" said Jenna.

Susano leapt and whirled around. "You AGAIN!" he cried. "I told you to leave!"

"That thing isn't dead, dude," said Jenna, pointing at the bear.

Susano fumed, then shouted, "This is my secret training ground! Get out!"

"It isn't secret. There was an entire tunnel to get here. It was obvious and everything. And the bear isn't dead."

"How DARE you argue with the great warrior Susano!" He blustered, "And I closed that gate!" A pause, he looked away at the floor and muttered to himself, "Didn't I?"

Jenna went for a bluff. "It was open, so what?"

"W-well, it should have been closed!"

"But it was open."

"You weren't supposed to come in if the gate was supposed to be closed!"

"But how would I know that? It was _open,_" pushed Jenna, her voice rising. Some people didn't get logic.

Susano made frustrated claws with his hands and looked enraged. Then he scowled, folded his arms, and straightened up. "Anyways, there are other monsters I must deal with! I have grown powerful enough that I no longer need this place. So there!" He ran out, laughing.

For a moment, nobody said anything. The bear snored. "So," said Jenna. "Any bets that the ball is the crystal-thing?"

"Yep," said Issun, in the same flat voice. "C'mon."

Jenna approached the ball, careful to evade the bear. She started to roll it. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't extremely heavy, though it did take a little effort to move. Amaterasu helped, pushing her head against the sphere while Jenna did the rolling. "Couldja imagine Ammy trying to move this thing on her own?" asked Issun. "What a pain!"

"Tell me about it," said Jenna. She was the one making sure the ball went where they wanted it to. They moved it along the tunnel and into the open room. It was tougher to get it up the hill to the pool of water. Once in the water, a fountain sprung up, levitating it into the air.

"Okay, that's awesome," said Jenna.

"Someone had a lotta time on their hands," said Issun. "Let's crank this baby in gear!"

Amaterasu's sun shone in a dead-black sky. A beam of light glimmered down on the green transparency of the sphere. Little green lights bounced off of it, all around the room, like sunlight off of water. Then those seemed to move, to be drawn back inside the crystal, which began to glow with a light so intense it hurt to look at. There was a blinding flash of light. Jenna shielded her eyes.

A beam of bright green light was shooting out of the ball when she looked again. It was focused right on the little sapling in the middle of the room. The whole room went green, and the sapling began to grow. It stretched upwards, growing and twisting and spreading branches and roots and turning brown, all while green light swirled around it.

Then it was there, a tall, big tree, taking up nearly the entire room. But... "It still looks dead," said Jenna. Issun cursed.

The room went dark.

"What the-?! Hey!" spluttered Issun. "Who turned out the lights?"

Jenna was already turning, looking up into the sky towards a faint light. "Look," she said, pointing. Amaterasu followed her gaze. They were all quiet for a moment. "It's another constellation," said Jenna. Amaterasu nodded, and her ethereal Celestial Brush dabbed the place where a missing star should be. She was about to lower her Canvas- "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait," interrupted Jenna. "There's two." Amaterasu tilted her head, blinked, then nodded and added the extra.

Spinnnnn! A god came to form and spun like a top down out of the sky and down into the golden plains fading in around them. A smooth transition. It stopped spinning and became a monkey. White, with red markings. Like Amaterasu. Like the other brush gods. It also had a weird... pipey-blowy-thingy. It posed itself in a graceful arabesque. It and Amaterasu exchanged an awkward glance, then as if by ritual, both sat down. The monkey knelt and started to play its instrument.

His name was... what was his name? Hanagami, wasn't it? But that wasn't Hanagami. He was talking. "Ah... Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all... My gratitude for releasing my body from its slumber. Please accept my humble thanks in return for your great kindness. I am Sakigami, one of the triumvirate of flora gods known as Hanagami. My brethren and I have been entrusted with the brush techniques known collectively as Greensprout."

So that explained it. There was one technique, and maybe once there was one god, too. "I now grant my humble power to you. Use it wisely." Then he smiled at Jenna. "It is good to see you, Starseeker. Farewell."

Again with the weird name. She was considering whether to ask when Sakigami disappeared and turned into a bit of power, going into Amaterasu.

"Bloom!" cried Issun. "Yes!"

"What now?" asked Jenna, confused.

"Sakigami is the god of the Bloom technique. We can use it to bloom the saplings! I hope." The last was an afterthought. Jenna was not as reassured as she felt she should be.

"Draw a circle 'round the tree, Ammy," said Issun.

Jenna detected the scent of flowers. Pink magic surrounded the tree, and flowers began to burst into bloom all along it. Petals spilled down and fell through the air.

Jenna felt it as a kind of suction in the air first. Then as a building tension. Sensing something was about to happen, Jenna approached the tree. The cherry blossoms were spinning around, preparing to burst out.

Jenna started to run.

Behind her, there was a shockwave. Green magic exploded from the room, rushing down the tunnel, along the ground and up the walls. Where it went, flowers and grass sprang up. The water cleared. Jenna started to laugh, sensing the life and energy in the air and running as hard as she could. She sped up, trying to match pace with the swift progress of the beam of light. She made it out of the tunnel and ran towards the opening of the cave.

At the entrance, she tripped over a thick tuft of fresh green grass, and fell down. But she wasn't hurt, and looked up grinning as the valley returned to life. Murky brown water turned bright, clear blue. Trees and grass and plants unwithered, gaining color and health. Even stone and sand changed, grey and black to white and brown. And all around in the air colorful leaf-petals danced in a wind that wasn't there.

Amaterasu ran up, barking. Jenna heaved a sigh and grinned at the fresh green valley, then laughed and rolled down the hill. "WOO! We did it!" Ammy pranced and bounced after Jenna, tackling her. "Whoa!" Jenna exclaimed as the dog pounced. She used the last of her momentum to toss the both of them sideways. The Sun Goddess panted happily in Jenna's face.

"You're heavy!" Jenna said.

Amaterasu blinked and then did a little doggy sneeze, shutting her mouth and shaking her head with a snort. She gave Jenna a friendly look with glittering flame-orange eyes. Jenna giggled and scratched her behind the ear.

Issun bounced up. "Man, can the both of you book it!" he complained. "I got thrown off of you, furball!" Then he fell silent. "So this is what Hana Valley is supposed to look like..."

Jenna sat up and checked the bun at the top of her hair. Some of her hair had come loose when she'd tumbled down the grass. She replied, "Yep," and took out the pin.

"So Sakuya's Guardian Sapling has lifted the curse," mused Issun. "Seems like the gods have gotten weaker recently. It must have taken some wickedly strong power to suppress a strong protecting force like that tree. I think we're up against more than we bargained for."

Jenna rerolled her hair and stuck in the little magical pin. "That's not really surprising."

"What?" said Issun.

"You ever heard that heroes appear when they're needed most?"

"...No."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Don't you guys have any legends around here?"

"We got plenty! …. but no, never heard that," he said.

"Well, the idea is basically that it's only when things get really bad that a hero shows up. Otherwise, people can mostly solve things on their own, right? So if a hero appears..."

"Oh," said Issun. "If a powerful warrior shows up, it's because nobody else could do it except for him." He sounded grim.

Jenna spread her fingers in the thick fur of Amaterasu's shoulder. Issun noticed and said, "But we're not even sure Ammy _is _a hero. That is, we don't know she's Shiranui reborn."

"She's a magical, benevolent being with power unheard of except in legend. I'd say? It's a pretty fair bet."

"Jeez," said Issun. "We're in it thick."

Amaterasu sat up and looked out over the valley. "Yeah, we'd better head down, huh?" said Jenna, ruffling the fur on her head. She stood up. "But can we go look at the Guardian Sapling again before we do? I didn't get to see it after it revived everything."

The room with the Sapling in it had come back to life, too. Plants grew in the roots of the big tree, and petals fell lightly through the air. "Pretty," said Jenna.

"Yeah, it is," said Issun. Then they turned back around and headed out.

Imps impeded their progress at the mouth of the cave. They were quickly dispatched, and when they were gone a little green magic bloomed and brought a little more color to the area. A little mound of sand and grass and little twiggy trees filled the empty space in the center of the room. Wild pigs, a woody brown color, rooted around at the base of the plants. Jenna smiled and scattered food for them, which they ate happily. Praise power fed into her and Amaterasu, then they moved on.

The creepy old trees were still there. One of them tossed a fruit at them. Ammy quickly Power Slashed it right back at its thrower, then drew a circle around it.

"What-" started Jenna. "Oh." It turned into a cherry tree. "Okay then."

They headed down the valley, purifying trees and various leftover bits of cursed grass. They found treasure chests scattered here and there, including a stray bead and a Sun Fragment. Issun didn't know what to do with it, but Jenna knew that she should keep it, so she did. By the time they reached the bottom, they'd collected lots of Praise from feeding animals and returning everything to the way it was. Jenna looked into the Origin Mirror and smiled at her reflection before jogging to join Ammy in the tunnel out of the valley.

* * *

><p><em>I wrote a whole bunch of it at one time, then after a long pause came back to it. In the middle, I learned some things about writing, so if you sensed a tone switch-up in there somewhere, then that's probably it. <em>

_Jenna: Yaaay, we did a really long thing for you guys! -_-_

_She's worn out. I'm worn out too. I mean, I wrote half of that just now in a burst of motivation, so. Yeah! Hope you liked it!  
><em>


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